High Protein Diet and DHA Supplementation was Effective to Recover the Impaired Nutritional Status in Irradiated Rats

Abstract

Radiation has been widely used as therapeutic methods of various malignancies. This treatment induces the nutrition‐related symptoms such as vomiting, weight loss and anorexia‐cachexia. Cancer patients on radiation therapy are supervised with the food intake and the supplementation of specific nutrients, such as amino acids and n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The major goal of this study was to determine the effects of high protein diet (HP) and DHA supplementation in minimizing the adverse effects of radiation for cancer treatment. Rats were divided into four groups: normal protein diet (NP) and HP groups and NP + DHA and HP + DHA groups. Each diet group was further divided into treatment groups that received radiation (RT group) and one that did not (non‐RT group). The diet administration was supplied from 12th day prior to radiation treatment with irradiation dose of 17.5 Gy. The diets were continued until 10th day after radiation treatment and animals were sacrificed. Radiation treatment caused the significant fall in serum protein, albumin, alkaline phosphatase and HDL‐C, while LDL‐C and TG levels were elevated. The most significant observation of this study was that high protein diet and DHA supplementation was effective to improve the distorted nutritional status by decreasing elevated lipid levels in irradiated rats.