Hepatoprotective Effect of Intermittent Normobaric Hypoxia Under the Radiation Therapy of the Rat Liver

Abstract

Aim. To study the effect of intermittent normobaric hypoxia (INH) during local irradiation of the rat liver in therapeutic doses (total focal dose 30 Gy for 10 fractions) on the biochemical parameters of blood serum characterizing liver function. Materials and methods. Blood sampling in the animals of the control group and in three tested groups was performed prior to the experiment and following the experiment (after 20 days), respectively. The following criteria of hepatocyte toxicity were investigated: the level of the general and direct bilirubin, general cholesterol and triglycerides, high- and low-density lipoproteins, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activity. Blood tests were performed using a Sapphire-400 (Tokyo Boeki ltd, Japan) automatic clinical analyzer with the standard Cormay (Poland) sets of reactants. Results. The experiment showed that the local radiation therapy on the liver region led to a growth in the indicators of pigment exchange, total cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins, triglycerides zdfl and transaminase activity. At the same time, the high-density lipoprotein level decreased. In the tested animals, INH application caused an increase in the bilirubin level and a change in lipid exchange indicators of the opposite direction in comparison with the animals receiving radiation therapy. INH did not change the transaminase activity. Liver radiation against the INH background led to less pronounced changes in blood biochemical indicators than in the group of animals having received exclusively radiation therapy. Such changes in blood indicators can be explained by a radioprotective effect of intermittent normobaric hypoxia. Conclusion. Intermittent normobaric hypoxia has a normalizing effect on the blood biochemical indices when performing local radiation therapy on the liver region.