A substance similar to resveratrol found in grapes, wine and nuts may protect against radiation sickness, reports ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters.
High doses of ionizing radiation can cause radiation sickness, and in extreme cases – death.
Michael Epperly, Kazunori Koide and their colleagues from the University of Pittsburgh (USA) set out to investigate whether resveratrol – a substance with antioxidant properties and considered to have beneficial effects on health – could protect against radiation.
In the course of the experiments, it turned out that resveratrol protects cell cultures in laboratory conditions, but in the case of mice it does not reduce the harmful effects of irradiation. On the other hand, a chemically similar natural substance – 3,5,4′-Tri-O-acetyl resveratrol, showed a clear protective effect in the case of irradiated mice.
Importantly, acetyloresvratrol can be mass produced and administered relatively easily. If further work confirms the effectiveness of this substance in humans, it may be useful, for example, to victims of accidents in the nuclear industry or people undergoing radiation therapy. (PAP)