Chemical Sensitization of Mice to Radiation Lethality

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Abstract
Thiol binding reagents such as N-ethyl maleimide, iodoacetamide, and chloromercuribenzoate are known to potentiate or sensitize the radiation inactivation of bacteria. These agents have been tested for their ability to sensitize mice when injected intraperitoneally immediately before whole-body irradiation. The results have shown that mice given a threshold lethal dose of 525 rad after injection with thiol-binding agents exhibit 30–60 per cent greater mortality than the controls. The sensitizing effect is believed not to be due to drug toxicity, and decreases with increasing dose of radiation. At the higher radiation dose of 810 rad, 50 per cent mortality occurs in 4–6 days, which suggests gastro-intestinal rather than bone-marrow damage as the cause of death. Other chemical agents known to radiosensitize bacteria have been tested in mice: thioglycolic acid and 5-bromouracil were not effective but methyl hydrazine was a potent radiosensitizer.