Use of zinc metallothioneine to protect mice from ionizing radiation

Injecting mice with exogenous zinc-metallothioneine from rat liver at 2 mg/kg 5–10 min before their total-body irradiation resulted in a significantly increased 30-day survival rate. The radioprotective effect of zinc-metallothioneine was not associated with the influence of its constituents, since a model mixture composed of these (albumin, cysteine, and zinc) failed to protect. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 118, N ^o 8, pp. 139–141, August, 1994 Presented by B. B. Moroz, Member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences