Abstract
Five-week-old JCR: CD rats were treated with 10% or 1% sodium chloride (NaCl) diet, 10% miso diet, or 10% ethanol in drinking water after a total dose of 20 Gy of X-rays administered to the gastric region in two equal fractions separated by 3 days. One year after the X-irradiation, the animals were sacrificed and quantitatively analysed for pathological changes in the medium- and small-sized arteries of the stomach. Arteritis induced by X-irradiation in rats was enhanced by 10% NaCl, but miso and 1% NaCl did not enhance the development of arteritis. On the other hand no arteritis was observed in the 10% ethanol group by either histological or quantitative analysis. Furthermore, a good correlation was also observed between enlargement of small-sized artery wall and NaCl concentration, especially among the X-irradiated groups.
In another experiment, after a single dose of 20 Gy of X-rays, rats were treated with either 10% NaCl in diet or 10% ethanol in drinking water for 1 year. A higher incidence of arteritis was observed in the X-ray groups but the modified effect observed in the fractionated irradiation groups treated with 10% NaCl or 10% ethanol was not observed.
