Post-irradiation protection and recovery

Summary

Administration of olive oil within an hour before or after whole-body x-irradiation of male mice at 625 r significantly increased the survival-rate when compared with irradiated untreated mice. The effects of irradiation on bone-marrow, spleen and thymus of irradiated, and oil-treated irradiated, male mice at different time-intervals after irradiation have been studied. Olive-oil therapy accelerated the rate of cellular regeneration and re-population in the bone-marrow, spleen and thymus. The mechanism of action of olive-oil therapy in accelerating the rate of cellular regeneration in the irradiated male mice is broadly discussed. There are indications that olive-oil therapy, by restoring the impaired cell functions, accelerates the rate of cellular regeneration in the haematopoietic organs.