[A vitamin-antioxidant diet decreases the level of chromosomal damages and the frequency of gene mutations in irradiated mice].

Two different methods were used to study the effect of the antioxidant vitamins mixture (AVM) containing beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, ascorbic acid, rutin, and microelements zinc and selenium on mouse resistance to acute and chronic irradiation. Micronucleus test demonstrated that a daily dietary supplement of AVM reliably decreased the rate of chromosomal damage, namely, X-ray-induced micronuclei in the bone marrow polychromatophilic erythrocytes of aging mice, but did not induce micronuclei formation in the young mice. Assay for somatic mutations in the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HPRT) locus showed that AVM significantly decreased the rate of genic mutations in mouse splenocytes after chronic irradiation.