Observations on Gastrointestinal Function after X-Ray and Thermal Column Exposures: I. Effect on the Progress of Barium Meal, Body Weight, and Survival

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Abstract
Relatively low doses of acute whole-body irradiation (50 rep) induced gastric retention of Ba in rats, the severity and duration of which increased with radiation dose. Body weight at 72 hours decreased linearly with dose after thermal column and 250-kvp X-ray exposure up to 1200 r. Subsequent to doses of 1200 to 9000 r, weight loss at 72 hours (median survival time 86 hours) was similar to, but did not exceed, that of nonirradiated, starved, and thirsted controls. The relative biological effectiveness of thermal neutron irradiation as compared to that of 250-kvp X-irradiation was 1.1 when % starvation weight loss was used as the biological indicator of effect. Surgical removal of the pylorus had no effect on post-irradiation gastric retention. Gastrectomized, irradiated animals lost body weight comparable to unoperated irradiated animals. Diminished food intake and weight loss are unrelated to acute gastric retention and dilatation.

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