The goal of combined pharmacological approaches in the treatment of the acute radiation syndrome (ARS) is to obtain an effective therapy producing a minimum of undesirable side effects. This review summarizes important data from studies evaluating the efficacy of combining radioprotective agents developed for administration prior to irradiation and therapeutic agents administered in a post-irra...

The selectively toxic effect of nitroimidazole drugs towards anaerobic bacteria and protozoa depends on a number of factors. The killing action of such drugs as metronidazole requires the reduction of the nitro group, a process which influences the rate of entry of the drug into the susceptible cell and which is determined by mechanisms involving ferredoxin-linked (or the equivalent) reactions ...

Antioxidants are prospective radioprotectors because of their ability to scavenge radiation-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS). The hematopoietic system is widely studied in radiation research because of its high radiosensitivity. In the present study, we describe the beneficial effects of 5-methoxytryptamine-α-lipoic acid (MLA), which was synthesized from melatonin and α-lipoic acid, agains...

We studied radioprotection and mitigation by mitochondrial-targeted Tempol (GS-nitroxide, JP4-039), in a mouse injury/irradiation model of combined injury (fracture/irradiation). Right hind legs of control C57BL/6NHsd female mice, mice pretreated with MnSOD-PL, JP4-039, or with amifostine were irradiated with single and fractionated doses of 0 to 20 Gy. Twenty-four hours later, unicortical hole...

Recently, a new class of in vitro and ex vivo radiotracers/radioprotectors, the nitroxyl–labeled agent N-[N'-(2-chloroethyl)-N’-nitrosocarbamoylglycine amide of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4aminopiperidine-1-oxyl (SLCNUgly), has been discovered. Our previous investigations demonstrated that SLCNUgly is a low-molecular-weight stable free radical which is freely membrane permeable, easily crosses the blo...

Nowadays, radiotherapy has become an integral part of the treatment regimen in various malignancies for curative or palliative purposes. Ionizing radiation interacts with biological systems to produce free radicals, which attack various cellular components. Radioprotectors act as prophylactic agents that are administered to shield normal cells and tissues from the harmful effects of radiation. ...

Advances in functionally biopolymer systems have provided new opportunities on basic science studies and bioengineering applications. In this review, the recent data on interaction mechanisms of synthetic polyelectrolytes with proteins and physico-chemical criteria for the construction of functionally biopolymer systems are reviewed. Also, the structure and structural-chemical features of prote...