Original scientific paper THE RADIOPROTECTIVE EFFICACY OF THE RAT ACUTE-PHASE

V. Martinović and J.Blagojević (2009): The radioprotective efficacy of the rat acute-phase potein alpha2-macroglobulin on bone marrow cells– Genetika, Vol. 41, No. 1, 29-39. The rat acute phase protein α2-macroglobulin (α2M) plays an important role in the restoration of disrupted homeostasis by inhibiting different types of non-specific proteases and facilitating the transport of cytokines, growth factors and hormones. Previously, we observed that administration of α2M to experimental animals prior to the infliction of life-threatening trauma in the form of scalding or total-body irradiation, 30 GENETIKA, Vol. 41, No. 1, 29-39, 2009. significantly improved their survival rates. The aim of the present work was to evalute the radioprotective effect on blood cells of α2M that, when administered 30 min before irradiation with 6.7 Gy (LD50/30), provides 100 % survival of experimental animals where in unprotected irradiated rats the said dose results in 50 % lethality. We observed that rats pretreated wit