Pravastatin limits radiation-induced vascular dysfunction in the skin.

About half of people with cancer are treated with radiation therapy; however, normal tissue toxicity still remains a dose-limiting factor for this treatment. The skin response to ionizing radiation may involve multiple inflammatory outbreaks. The endothelium is known to play a critical role in radiation-induced vascular injury.

WHO 1st consultation on the development of a global biodosimetry laboratories network for radiation emergencies (BioDoseNet).

The World Health Organization (WHO) held a consultation meeting at WHO Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland, December 17-18, 2007, to develop the framework for a global biodosimetry network. The WHO network is envisioned to enable dose assessment using multiple methods [cytogenetics, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), radionuclide bioassays, etc.]; however, the initial discussion focused on the cytogenetic bioassay (i.

Reactive species and apoptosis of neural precursor cells after gamma-irradiation.

This study addresses the participation of radiation-induced free radicals, mainly nitric oxide (NO), in modulating the apoptotic response in an in vitro model of neural cortical precursor cells exposed to gamma-radiation. Cortical cells obtained from rats at 17 gestational day (GD) were irradiated with a dose of 2 Gy. The percentage of apoptotic cells was significantly increased 4h post-irradiation (pi).

[Telomeres and genomic damage repair. Their implication in human pathology].

Telomeres, functional complexes that protect eukaryotic chromosome ends, participate in the regulation of cell proliferation and could play a role in the stabilization of genomic regions in response to genotoxic stress. Their significance in human pathology becomes evident in several diseases sharing genomic instability as a common trait, in which alterations of the telomere metabolism have been demonstrated. Many of them are also associated with hypersensitivity to ionizing radiation and cancer susceptibility.

[Evolutionary and bone marrow recovery indicators in bone marrow transplantation after total body irradiation].

Oxidative stress and reticulocyte maturity index (RMI) were studied in 27 patients who underwent bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Plasmatic lipoperoxide levels of those patients with unfavorable evolution were significantly increased on days 12-14 post-transplant (median 1.83 microM, range 0.