Injected Proteins Protect Mice From Lethal Radiation Dose

ananyo writes "Two anti-clotting compounds already approved for use in humans may have a surprising role in treating radiation sickness. Last year's nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan renewed anxiety over the lack of treatments for radiation poisoning. It was long thought that the effects of exposure to high doses of radiation were instantaneous and irreversible, leading to destruction of the gut and loss of bone marrow cells, which damages blood-cell production and the immune system. The two compounds are thrombomodulin (Solulin/Recomodulin), currently approved in Japan to prevent thrombosis, and activated protein C (Xigris). Treating mice with either drug post-exposure led to an eightfold increase in key bone marrow cells needed for the production of white blood cells, and improved the survival rates of mice receiving lethal radiation doses by 40–80% (abstract). And yes, the lead author's name really is Geiger."

Comments

I always wondered if this is feasible

[circletimessquare]

Radiation and life are not mutually exclusive. Heck, there are fungi and bacteria that THRIVE on radiation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinococcus_radiodurans

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermococcus_gammatolerans

This treatment mentioned here has another key use besides radiation accidents on Earth: long term space travel.

If we are going to Mars, we are going to have to harden the human body to radiation exposure.

Through some combination of genetic treatments gleaned from researching radiation extremophiles, and research like this excellent find on these proteins, the human body should be able to be hardened to long term high levels of radiation. That's excellent news for space travel.

Re:I always wondered if this is feasible

[Chris Burke]

Well, we've known for a while that a lot of cases of acute radiation poisoning in humans don't actually directly damage tissues as badly as you'd think, and the problem comes from our cells' natural suicide response to damage. Normally a really good thing for preventing cancer, but not a good thing when, say, a significant number of liver cells are simultaneously slightly damaged and they each decide to kill themselves "for the good of the whole". Oops. So disabling this response allows people to survive radiation doses that previously would have killed them.

And of course radiation and life are not exclusive... without background radiation, evolution would occur on a vastly slower rate.

So that's what was in those syringes...

[barlevg]

I think I remember Ronald D. Moore saying in the Battlestar Galactica first season commentary that he felt slightly guilty about making up a magic "anti radiation" drug.