Protective effect of a mixture of radioprotective substances (AET and mexamine) on the haemopoietic stem cells of mice.

A protective effect of a combined application of radioprotectors (AET -i.p., mexamine -s.c.) was studied in experiments on mice. Duration of the protective effect on the haemopoietic stem cells and on the survival of mice after a lethal exposure to X-ray radiation lasted for 5 hours after the injection. DRF calculated from a change of LD 50/30 reached the maximum (1.53) within 30 min after the injection, and was equal to 1.17 within an interval of 5 hrs. The protection of haemopoiesis, as expressed by DRF calculated from an equieffective exposure for 2 ESC, reached the maximum within a 60 min interval after the injection (DRF=3.4). D0 calculated from the CFU survival curves of endogenous haemopoietic tissue colonies (ESC) was, within a 120 min interval, almost three times higher (310 R) than in the control group (110 R). After the injection of radioprotectors a greater number of haemopoietic CFU survives at an exposure of 100-400 R than after mere irradiation. The postirradiation decrease in the weight of small intestine was smaller in protected animals than in the controls. The role of a decrease of the radiation damage to the haemopoietic stem cells in the total protective effect of the radioprotectors used is discussed.