Effects of Whole-Body Irradiation on the Transfer Capacity of Rat Small Intestine

Abstract

It is now well established that X-irradiation of the whole animal produces damage to the intestine. Indeed the resulting from large doses of irradiation is probably due to the intestinal damage and has been called acute intestinal death by Quastler (1). The characteristic pathology is the denudation of the intestinal lining, so it is scarcely surprising that irradiation produces serious interference with absorption. The effect on absorption has been studied by many workers, and recently well reviewed (2), but the interesting question which still remains unsettled is how far damage to specific functions can occur in irradiated animals as distinct from general damage to the cells. In the present paper the problem has been approached by studying different transport functions in the intestine, and comparing the extent to which changes in these are related to metabolic and histological changes in the gut. As the object is to demonstrate functional changes, nonlethal doses of irradiation were used, and the functional capacity was observed at varying times after irradiation.