Vitamin D3, a possible nuclear protector in normal hepatic and medullar tissue in white Wistar rats treated with cytostatics. Radioisotopic and cytogenetic aspects.
Vitamin D3 was given to male Wistar rats in 3 doses totalling 10,000 IU/kg b.w. then, within 24 hrs, girostan (10 mg/kg b.w.), lomustin or CCNU (10 mg/kg b.w.), all cytostatic substances, were injected in a single dose. Association of vitamin D3 with these cytostatics was found to reduce incorporation of 3H thymidine and a return to normal of RNA synthesis. This suggests that vitamin D3 has a protective effect by maintaining the stability of the double helix. Cytogenetically, the level of the recombinations and of the lesions themselves changes in relation to the structure of the alkylant used, and the damage is smaller if vitamin D3 is given before cytostatics.