Vitamin A Inhibits Radiation-Induced Pneumonitis in Rats

Manuscript received 23 February 1998. Initial reviews completed 9 March 1998. Revision accepted 23 June 1998.

Carrie A. Redlich^{*, ,} , Sara Rockwell^**, Joyce S. Chung, Andrew G. Sikora, Marianne Kelley^**, and Susan T. Mayne

^* Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine,  Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program, Department of Internal Medicine, the Departments of  Epidemiology and Public Health and ^** Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520

Radiation-induced lung injury frequently limits the total dose of thoracic radiotherapy that can be delivered, and the determinants of host susceptibility are poorly understood. To test the hypothesis that vitamin A status may be an important, modifiable host determinant of radiation-induced lung injury, we determined the effect of altered vitamin A status on radiation-induced lung inflammation in rats. WAG-Rij Y rats were fed a diet deficient in or supplemented with vitamin A (0 units/kg or 80,000 units/kg diet). After 5 wk of consuming the prescribed diet, rats were irradiated with 15 Gy of 250 kV X-rays to the whole thorax. At 4-5 wk post-irradiation, there were significantly fewer neutrophils on bronchoalveolar lavage in rats fed the vitamin A-supplemented diet (8.8 ± 1.2% neutrophils) compared with those fed the vitamin A-deficient diet (20.8 ± 3.4% neutrophils, P < 0.01). At the termination of the experiment, 4-5 wk postradiation, lung retinol levels of the vitamin A-supplemented group were 19.6 ± 1.8 nmol/g, whereas those in the vitamin A-deficient group were significantly lower, 1.7 ± 0.5 nmol/g (P < 0.01). These findings suggest that supplemental vitamin A may reduce lung inflammation after thoracic radiation and be an important modifiable radioprotective agent in the lung.

The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 128 No. 10 October 1998, pp. 1661-1664
Copyright ©1998 by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences

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