Vitamin C protects against internal radioiodine-131 associated toxicity. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Vitamins as radioprotectors in vivo. I. Protection by vitamin C against internal radionuclides in mouse testes: implications to the mechanism of damage caused by the Auger effect.
Radiat Res. 1994 Mar;137(3):394-9. PMID: 8146284
Department of Radiology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark 07103.
The potential of vitamin C, an antioxidant, to protect the radiosensitive spermatogonial cells in mouse testes against the effects of chronic irradiation by radionuclides incorporated into tissue was investigated. Interestingly, when injected intratesticularly, a small and nontoxic amount of vitamin C (1.5 microgram in 3 microliters saline) protected the spermatogonia against the damage associated with high-LET radiation caused by Auger electrons from similarly administered 5-(125I)-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine (125IdU). A dose modification factor (DMF) of 2.3 was obtained. In contrast, no protection was observed when 210Po, an alpha-particle emitter, was administered similarly. These findings suggest that the mechanism of action of the Auger effect is of an indirect nature, which is in contrast to the direct action generally believed to be responsible for biological damage caused by high-LET radiations.