No Late Effect of Ionizing Radiation on the Aging-Related Oxidative Changes in the Mouse Brain

Radiation-induced late injury to normal tissue is a primary area of radiation biology research. The present study was undertaken to investigate whether the late effect of the ionizing radiation appears as an age-related oxidative status in the brain. Three groups of 4-month old C57BL/6 mice that were exposed to $^{137}Cs$ ${\gamma}-rays$ at a single dose (5 Gy) or fractionated doses ($1Gy{\times}5times$, or $0.2Gy{\times}25times$) at 2 months old were investigated for the oxidative status of their brains with both young (2-month) and old (24-month) mice. A significant (p<0.05) decrease in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was observed in old mice brains compared with that of the young mice. malondialdehyde (MDA) content was significantly (p<0.05) increased in the old mice brain. However, any significant difference in SOD activity and MDA contents of the irradiated brain was not observed compared to age-matched control group mice. SOD activity and MDA content were observed within good parameters of brain aging and there were no late effects on the age-related oxidative level in the ${\gamma}-ray$ irradiated mice brains.