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. 2018 Jan-Mar;33(1):20-24.
doi: 10.4103/ijnm.IJNM_89_17.

Vitamins E and C Prevent DNA Double-strand Breaks in Peripheral Lymphocytes Exposed to Radiations from Iodine-131

Mehdi Safaei  1 , Seyed Masoud Jafarpour  1 , Mehran Mohseni  1 , Morteza Salimian  2 , Hossein Akbari  3 , Fateme Karami  4 , Akbar Aliasgharzadeh  1 , Bagher Farhood  1
Affiliations

Vitamins E and C Prevent DNA Double-strand Breaks in Peripheral Lymphocytes Exposed to Radiations from Iodine-131

Mehdi Safaei et al. Indian J Nucl Med. 2018 Jan-Mar.

Abstract

Purpose: Iodine-131 is used as a radiopharmaceutical to treat thyroid cancer. The current study aimed to evaluate the effects of vitamins E and C on the level of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) caused by Radioiodine-131 (I-131) in human lymphocytes.

Materials and methods: Whole blood samples from human volunteers were incubated with a certain concentration of vitamins. After 1-h incubation, the samples were incubated with 20 μCi I-131/2 mL (blood + NaCl) for 1 h. To evaluate the effects of antioxidants, lymphocytes were separated, and the mean DSBs/cell was measured for each sample through γ-H2AX assay.

Results: After 1-h incubation with 20 μCi I-131/2 mL (blood + NaCl), iodine-131 increased the level of DSBs by 102.9%, compared with the background group. Vitamins E and C reduced the level of DSBs by 21.5% and 36.4%, respectively.

Conclusion: Using vitamins E and C as antioxidants can reduce the toxicity of I-131. Furthermore, vitamin C provided the more protection for DNA, compared with vitamin E.

Keywords: Double-strand break; Vitamin C; Vitamin E; iodine-131; radioiodine; γ-H2AX foci.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Fluorescence microscopy images of γ-H2AX foci in lymphocytes in the study groups (without I-131 and with I-131). More DNA damage was observed in the group with I-131
Figure 2
Figure 2
The mean ± standard deviation of double-strand breaks in the study Groups
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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