Ionizing radiation (IR) acts as an external stimulating factor, when it acts on the body, it will activate NF- κ B and cause the up-regulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and induce a large amount of nitric oxide (NO) production. NO and other reactive nitrogen and oxygen species (RNS and ROS) can cause damage to biological molecules and affect their physiological functions. Our study investigated the protective role of 2-amino-5,6-dihydro-4H-1,3-thiazine hydrobromide (2-ADT) and 2-acetylamino-5,6-dihydro-4H-1,3-thiazine hydrobromide (2-AADT), two nitric oxide synthase inhibitors, against radiation-induced hematopoietic and intestinal injury in mice. Pretreatment with 2-ADT and 2-AADT improved the survival of mice exposed to a lethal dose of radiation, especially, the survival rate of the 2-ADT 20 mg/kg group was significantly higher than that of the vehicle group (p < 0.001). Our findings indicated that the radioprotective actions of 2-ADT and 2-AADT are achieved via accelerating hematopoietic system recovery, decreasing oxidative and nitrosative stress by enhancing the antioxidant defense system and reducing NO as well as peroxynitrite (ONOO − ) content, and mitigating the radiation-induced DNA damage evaluated by comet assay. These results suggest that 2-ADT and 2-AADT may have great application potential in ameliorating the damages of radiotherapy.
Keywords: 2-acetylamino-5,6-dihydro-4H-1,3-thiazine hydrobromide (2-AADT); 2-amino-5,6-dihydro-4H-1,3-thiazine hydrobromide (2-ADT); hematopoietic; intestinal injury; radioprotection.