Pharmacological Studies on Chemical Protectors against Radiation. II. : Influence of X-Irradiation on Body Weight of Mouse

When experimental animals are irradiation with radiation rays, various disorders result but the marked change in the initial stage is the loss in body weight. In order to see if this loss in weight could be used as an index for biological assay of chemical radiation protectors, sensitivity of mouse weight to irradiation was examined. The body weight of male ddY mice shows specific loss on X-ray irradiation, and the rate of body weight change two weeks after the irradiation is linear to the dose of irradiation. This rate of body weight change is much more sensitive than changes in survival rate, and effect of irradiation can be observed with a low dose and in a short period.