The effect of hypothermia on the rat radioresistance

Ignat'ev, D. A.; Fialkovskaia, L. A.; Perepelkina, N. I.; Markevich, L. N.; Kraev, I. V. and Kolomiǐtseva, I. K. (2006). The effect of hypothermia on the rat radioresistance. Radiatsionnaia biologiia, radioecologiia, 46(6) pp. 706–712.

Abstract

The cooling of Wistar rats up to 15-19 degrees C under a condition hypoxia-hypercapnia increased the radioresistance with a dose reduction factor (DRF) of 1.4. To elucidate the mechanisms of hypothermia radioprotective effect was evaluated the functional state of rat neocortex using a electroencephalogram (EEG) as well as was studied the lipid composition of neocortex under the conditions of both normothermia and hypothermia. At 19-20 degrees C the activity within a wide range of frequencies in EEG was suppressed; the nonregular slow waves were recorded against a background of "silence". The reduction of EEG spectrum with increasing temperature began with the low frequencies. At 26-28 degrees C the contribution of theta-rhythm (an indicator of brain activity level) in EEG reaches the normothermia value, from this point the rat brain starts to functionate as a whole system. At normothermia the similarity of neocortex lipid composition in nonhibernators (rats) and hibernators (ground squirrels) mammalians was noted. The difference is only in a higher content of phosphatidylinositol in rats. Rats falling into hypothermia state as well as ground squirrels into torpor is followed by a decrease of cholesterol content and the absence of significant changes of the phospholipid composition in neocortex tissues.

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