Effects of Radioprotective Chemicals on the Histopathologic Changes of Oral Radiation Death in Mice

¹ Walter G. Zoller Memorial Dental Clinic and Department of Pathology, University of Chicago, and Argonne Cancer Research Hospital,^* Chicago, Illinois

The study was undertaken to determine the effects of systemic administration of aminoethylisothiuronium (AET) and para-aminopropriopheone (PAPP) on the radiation-induced lingual ulceration found in mice subjected to the irradiation that causes oral radiation death. Tissue samples of the tongue and major organs of both chemically protected mice and nonprotected control mice were fixed daily after irradiation. Lingual tissues of the chemically protected mice had fewer or less severe radiation-induced changes than tissues of unprotected mice. The rate of radiation atrophy of the lingual epithelium was slower in chemically protected mice than in nonprotected mice. Chemical protection, however, did not appreciably alter early radiation effects. The tongues of chemically protected mice showed either a sudden surge of epithelial proliferative activity about 7 days after irradiation or mild ulceration about 9 days after irradiation. In either instance, an apparently intact epithelium was present on the dorsum of the tongue about 11 days after irradiation in chemically protected mice.