Antioxidant defense and trace element imbalance in patients with postradiation syndrome - First report on phase I studies

More than 6000 residents of Latvia were involved in recovery work in Chemob yl. They were healthy men exposed to substantial ionizing radiation (0.01-0 .5 Gy). Now, these recovery workers suffer from "postradiation syndrome": d izziness and poor memory, headache, local pains, and so forth. The biochemi cal mechanism of "postradiation syndrome" has not been completely establish ed. In this Phase I study, we have investigated how exposure to radiation i mpacts antioxidative defense and trace element concentrations in the blood of recovery workers. Thirty-five patients with postradiation syndrome (men, age range 33-50 yr) and 15 healthy men similar in age as control subjects were studied for the effects on plasma chemiluminescence, the activity of a ntioxidant enzymes, and the concentration of ceruloplasmin and concentratio ns of selenium (Se), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu) in blood. The results revea led that plasma chemiluminescence was significantly increased (3.5-fold to 5.5-fold), the activity of catalase in erythrocytes was significantly eleva ted, and the activity of glutathione peroxidase in plasma was significantly reduced in examined patients. Concentrations of Zn and Cu were significant ly higher and the concentration of Se was lower in these patients. We concl ude that the patients exposed to ionizing radiation have diminished blood a ntioxidant defense associated with pronounced Se deficiency and imbalance o f Zn and Cu.