14 DAY TRIAL // A compound derived from cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables has successfully been used to protect laboratory mice and rats from radiation doses that would have otherwise killed them.
The compound is known as 3,3'-diindolylmethane (DIM, for short), and several previous studies have shown that it can help with cancer prevention.
In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this past Monday, researchers with the Georgetown University Medical Center argue that, all things considered, it might be possible to use this compound to protect healthy tissues in cancer patients subjected to radiation therapy.
In the case of these people, the compound could help prevent or reduce sickness brought about by exposure to radiation, EurekAlert details.
On the other hand, the compound could also serve to protect ordinary folks against lethal doses of radiation in the eventuality of a nuclear disaster.
“DIM has been studied as a cancer prevention agent for years, but this is the first indication that DIM can also act as a radiation protector,” researcher Eliot Rosen with the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center explains.
“DIM could protect normal tissues in patients receiving radiation therapy for cancer, but could also protect individuals from the lethal consequences of a nuclear disaster,” he adds.
In order to study how this compound acts on the bodies of rodents exposed to lethal doses of radiation, scientists first irradiated several laboratory mice and rats. Starting ten minutes after doing so, they began to regularly inject some of the animals with DIM for a period of two weeks.
“All of the untreated rats died, but well over half of the DIM-treated animals remained alive 30 days after the radiation exposure,” specialist Eliot Rosen says.
Apart from keeping these rodents alive, the compound helped reduce the number of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets that the animals lost after being irradiated.