Radioprotective effects of prostaglandins for chromosomal aberrations and cell killing in V79 Chinese hamster cells grown as spheroids in vitro and for mouse spermatogonial stem cells and bone marrow cells in vivo

The radioprotective effects of prostaglandins (PGE2, PGE1 and its analogue misoprostol (MP) were investigated in cultures of V79 Chinese hamster (CHO) cells grown as spheroids and as monolayers, CHO cells grown as monolayers, and in bone marrow polychromatic erythrocytes and spermatogonial stem cells in mouse. The X-ray doses were 0.75 Gy (hamster cells) and 5, 8 and 10 Gy (mouse experiments). Prostaglandin pre-irradiation treatment resulted in a marked reduction in the frequencies of chromosomal aberrations in V79 spheroids and of reciprocal translocations in mouse stem cell spermatogonia. The amount of mouse spermatogonial stem cell killing was likewise significantly reduced. No radioprotective effects of prostaglandins could be demonstrated, however, for chromosomal aberrations in hamster cells grown as monolayers, for survival of V79 cells grown as spheroids, and for the induction of micronuclei in bone marrow polychromatic erythrocytes of mouse.