Effect of gamma irradiation on spleen cell function and cytotoxicity of doxorubicin.

The present study was attempted to evaluate the effects of gamma-irradiated doxorubicin (IRD) on spleen cell proliferation, cytokines release (IFN-gamma and IL-2) and lung metastasis in mice. Gamma irradiation induced degradation of doxorubicin molecule and cytotoxicity on melanoma (B16BL6) and myoblast (H9c2) cell lines were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide tetrazole) assay, respectively. Non-irradiated doxorubicin (NIRD) was used as a control. The mice injected with NIRD (2mg/kg body weight for 5 days, 24h interval) showed a considerable decrease (P<0.05) in the body, spleen weight, proliferation and cytokine release (IL-2 and IFN-gamma) as compared to control. However, a non-significant variation was observed in IRD treated mice compared with normal. Tumor bearing mice treated with NIRD and IRD (2mg/kg body weight, five doses at 48 h interval) showed diverse results on spleen cell cytokine release, proliferation and metastasis. HPLC results revealed the formation of several trace level degradation (P<0.05) products of IRD. IRD displayed a non-significant variation of cytotoxicity on B16BL6 cells, and low percentage (P<0.01) of cardiotoxicity on H9c2 cells as compared to NIRD. Altogether, this present study emphasis that gamma irradiation altered the property of doxorubicin.

Comparison of Quality of Bologna Sausage Manufactured by Electron Beam or X-Ray Irradiated Ground Pork.

Ground lean pork was irradiated by an electron beam or X-rays to compare the effects of two types of radiation generated by a linear accelerator on the quality of Bologna sausage as a model meat product. Raw ground lean pork was vacuum packaged at a thickness of 1.5 cm and irradiated at doses of 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 kGy by an electron beam (2.5 MeV) or X-rays (5 MeV). Solubility of myofibrillar proteins, bacterial counts, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) values were determined for raw meat samples. Bologna sausage was manufactured using the irradiated lean pork, and total bacterial counts, TBARS values, and quality properties (color differences, cooking yield, texture, and palatability) were determined. Irradiation increased the solubility of myofibrillar proteins in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.05). Bacterial contamination of the raw meat was reduced as the absorbed dose increased, and the reduction was the same for both radiation types. Differences were observed only between irradiated and non-irradiated samples (p<0.05). X-ray irradiation may serve as an alternative to gamma irradiation and electron beam irradiation.

Investigation on radiation degradation of carboxymethylcellulose by ionizing irradiation.

This study was done to compare the effects of irradiations with gamma-rays and electron beams, on the viscosity of the carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), on the functional groups of CMC, and on the production of radicals. It was observed that the relative viscosities decreased as the irradiation doses increased, but the decrease was more significant when irradiation with gamma rays. FT-IR spectra showed no significant difference between the gamma-ray and the electron beam irradiated samples. ESR spectra showed that the gamma-ray irradiation produced more radicals than electron beam irradiation in CMC.