Effects of total body irradiation on fatty acid and total lipid content of rats

We examined time-dependent changes in plasma lipids of rats given total body irradiation (TBI) with X-rays at 3 Gy. for consecutive periods. Animals were exposed to x ray radiations consecutively for 20 days at 5 day interval thereafter five animals were picked at random and sacrificed (5, 10, 15 and 20 days after beginning the exposure). The triacylglycerols and total cholesterol serum levels were significant differences between control and experimental groups after the first exposure (5 days), values for the triacylglcerols were significantly higher with the second (day 10) and third (day 15) radiation exposures but not with the fourth radiation exposures (day 20) (P<0.05). However, the serum cholesterol values were not found to be significant with the second and third exposures but with the fourth exposure (day 20) (P<0.05). The serum HDL-C concentrations were not significantly different between control and experimental groups at any time analyzed. But the LDL cholesterol was found to decrease on days 5 and 20 of the experimental period. Our results indicate that the applied long term exposure to x rays ionization radiations exposure may induce slight but statistically significant alterations in some serum lipids profile of rats, within the physiological range. The mechanisms for the effects of these ionizing radiations on serum lipid profile are not well understand yet, we suggest that the changes could be due to some non-specific stress reactions. The consequences of our observation are not known yet, but could point to some possible clinical intervention.