TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1999//
TI  - Caffeine protects mice against whole-body lethal dose of gamma-irradiation
JO  - Journal of radiological protection
A1  - George, K. C.
A1  - Hebbar, S. A.
A1  - Kale, S. P.
A1  - Kesavan, P. C.
SP  - 171
EP  - 176
VL  - 19
IS  - 2
N2  - Administration of caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine), a major component of coffee, to Swiss mice at doses of 80 or 100 mg/kg body weight 60 min prior to whole-body lethal dose of gamma-irradiation (7.5 Gy) resulted in the survival of 70 and 63% of animals, respectively, at the above doses in contrast to absolutely no survivors (LD-100/25 days) in the group exposed to radiation alone. Pre-treatment with a lower concentration of caffeine (50 mg/kg) did not confer any radioprotection. The protection exerted by caffeine (80 mg/kg), however, was reduced from 70 to 50% if administered 30 min prior to irradiation. The trend statistics reveal that a dose of 80 mg/kg administered 60 min before whole-body exposure to 7.5 Gy is optimal for maximal radioprotection. However, caffeine (80 mg/kg) administered within 3 min after irradiation offered no protection. While there is documentation in the literature that caffeine is an antioxidant and radioprotector against the oxic pathway of radiation damage in a wide range of cells and organisms, this is the first report demonstrating unequivocally its potent radioprotective action in terms of survival of lethally whole-body irradiated mice.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0952-4746
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -