Nutritional supplementation with arginine protects radiation-induced effects. An experimental study

ABSTRACT PURPOSE: To investigate the protective effect of L-arginine on the prostate (nonneoplasic) of rats with radiation-induced injury. METHODS: Twenty-nine Wistar rats, male adult, allocated into three groups: Control group (C) was not exposed to irradiation (n=10); Radiated group (R) had undergone pelvic irradiation (n=10); Supplemented and radiated group (R+S) had undergone pelvic irradiation plus L-arginine supplementation (n=9). The animals were observed for signs of toxicity. After euthanization, the prostate was dissected under magnification and stained by hematoxylin and eosin to study acinar structures and stained with Picrosirius red for collagen analysis. RESULTS: After radiation exposure, all animals presented diarrhea, but supplementation with L-arginine reduced this effect. The weight gain in the R+S group was significantly higher than in the C and R groups. In the R+S group the collagen density and the prostate acinar area was similar to the R and C groups. Epithelial height was significantly reduced in group R compared with group C (p<0.0001). When comparing the group R+S with R, a statistical difference was observed to be present (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Pelvic radiation promotes systemic effects and some structural modifications in the ventral prostate of rats. These modifications can be prevented by oral supplementation with L-arginine.

Effects of L-Glutamine oral supplementation on prostate of irradiated rats

ABSTRACT Objectives To investigate the protective effect of L-Glutamine in animals undergone to ventral radiation when the target organ is not the prostate. Materials and Methods Wistar rats were divided into groups of 10 animals each: Controls (C), maintained under standard conditions and not exposed to radiation, Radiated group (R) undergone to abdominal radiation only and Radiated plus supplemented by L-glutamine group (R+G). The animals of group R+G were supplemented with L-glutamine at the beginning of the experiment until death in the 22nd day. The ventral prostate was dissected and processed for morphometrical analysis. The epithelial height, collagen density and acinar area were objectively assessed in histological sections. Results Epithelial height was significantly reduced in R group in comparison to C group (p= 0.005). However, there was no statistical difference between the C and R+G groups. Collagen surface density in the C and R groups were not statistically different, but a significant difference was observed when comparing groups R+G and R (p= 0.040). The R+G group values did not differ significantly from C group. The acinar prostate area of group R was similar to that of C (p= 0.971), but in R+G it was significantly reduced when compared with the C (p= 0.038) and R (p= 0.001) groups. Conclusions Pelvic radiation promotes structural modifications in ventral prostate of rats, which can be reduced by L-Glutamine.

Dosimetric Coverage of the Prostate, Normal Tissue Sparing, and Acute Toxicity with High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy for Large Prostate Volumes

To evaluate dosimetric coverage of the prostate, normal tissue sparing, and acute toxicity with HDR brachytherapy for large prostate volumes.

Efeitos da suplementação oral com L-arginina e L-glutamina sobre a próstata ventral de ratos submetidos à irradiação / Effects of oral supplementation with L-arginine and L-glutamine on the ventral prostate of rats subjected to irradiation

O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar o possível efeito protetor da L-glutamina e da L-arginina sobre a próstata ventral de ratos quando administradas por gavagem. Procurou-se simular as condições clinicas de pacientes submetidos à radioterapia pélvica tendo como órgão alvo outro órgão pélvico que não a próstata. Foram analisados os efeitos desta irradiação sobre a próstata considerando este órgão como normal. Foram utilizados ratos Wistar divididos em quatro grupos: Controle, animais não submetidos à irradiação (n=10); Irradiado, submetidos à irradiação abdominal e sem suplementação adicional de aminoácido por 21 dias (n=10); Irradiado + L-glutamina, submetidos à irradiação abdominal e com suplementação adicional de L-glutamina por 21 dias (n=10); e Irradiado + L-arginina, submetidos à irradiação abdominal e com suplementação adicional de L-arginina por 21 dias (n=9). Os grupos foram mantidos em condições padrão de laboratório durante todas as etapas do experimento. Os animais submetidos à irradiação abdominal receberam uma dose única de 1000 cGy no dia 8 da experimentação. A L-glutamina e a L-arginina foram dissolvidas em água destilada e administrada por gavagem através da agulha IC-810®. As próstatas foram removidas e processadas para inclusão em parafina. Foram estudados os seguintes parâmetros: estrutura acinar (área dos ácinos e altura do epitélio) e colágeno analisados por métodos morfométricos e peso corporal. O ganho de peso nos grupos suplementados foi significativamente maior se comparado ao grupo irradiado. Houve redução da altura do epitélio no grupo irradiado quando comparado ao controle. A altura do epitélio no grupo suplementado com L-arginina foi significativamente maior do que nos grupos irradiado e suplementado com L-glutamina. Houve diminuição, de aproximadamente 18%, da área dos ácinos no grupo suplementado com L-glutamina. Já no grupo suplementado com L-arginina o valor foi similar ao do controle. O efeito da L-glutamina...

The aim of this study was to investigate the possible protective effect of L-glutamine and L-arginine on the rat ventral prostate when administered by gavage. We tried to simulate the clinical conditions of patients undergoing pelvic radiotherapy as with other pelvic organ target organ than the prostate. We analyzed the effects of irradiation on prostate considering this organ as normal. Wistar rats were divided into four groups: Control, animals not exposed to irradiation (n=10); Irradiated, submitted to abdominal irradiation and without additional amino acid supplementation (n=10); Irradiated + L-glutamine, submitted abdominal irradiation and additional supplementation with L-glutamine for 21 days (n=10), and Irradiated + L-arginine, underwent abdominal irradiation and additional supplementation with L-arginine for 21 days (n=9). The groups were kept under standard laboratory conditions during all stages of the experiment. The animals underwent abdominal irradiation received a single dose of 1000 cGy in eight days of trial. L-glutamine and L-arginine were dissolved in distilled water and administered by gavage needle through the IC-810®. The prostates were removed and processed for paraffin embedding. We studied the following parameters: acinar structure (area of acini and epithelial height) and collagen analyzed by morphometric methods and body weight. Weight gain in the supplemented groups was significantly higher compared to the irradiated group. There was a reduction in epithelial height in the irradiated group compared to control. The height of the epithelium in the group supplemented with L-arginine was significantly higher than in irradiated and supplemented with L-glutamine. There was a decrease of approximately 18% of the area of the lobes in the group supplemented with L-glutamine. In the group supplemented with L-arginine was similar to the value of control. The effect of L-glutamine on the prostatic parenchyma was to keep the collagen...

Prostate helical tomotherapy: a semi-empirical estimation of the scaling factor based on 2D approximating field

In Helical Tomotherapy [HT], the scaling factor [SF] is the time in seconds that each leaf viewing a target would need to be open to deliver the prescribed dose. The SF is patient-specific and is used to calculate the rotational period of the gantry, and the total treatment time [TTT] of the HT. The SF is generally difficult to estimate. Currently, it takes about one hour to fully optimize a prostate HT plan and to calculate the corresponding TTT. The aim of this study is to develop a method for estimation of the SF directly using a patient-specific approximating function. The SFs of ten randomly selected patients were used to build the approximation model. For the entire group of patients the PTV1 ranged from 57 to 396 cm3 for PTV1 margins from 2 to 10 mm. The discrete data for every patient is represented by an individual function, SF=f [kx PTV1]. The values of the function were rescaled to a special unit which represents the target volume irradiated with the prescribed dose per second. The values were normalized with two "geometric" parameters, namely, the target-to-target and the body-to-body ratios. After the normalization, the function for every patient was ordered in the file by the volume of the prostate and seminal vesicles. For prostate HT planning, it was found that the planning target volume [PTV1] has a higher impact on the SF values than the size of the patient's bodies. The function SF=f [kxPTV1] was found smooth and continuous over the given interval. The rescaled and normalized functions for all patients were represented as delimiters of a 2D field. The method proposed for determination of the SF and TTT for HT prostate planning covers PTV1 of four margins and a volume of prostate and seminal vesicles ranging from 42.8 to 161 cm3. Using these approximations, the TTTs for a second group of patients were determined in several minutes with deviation ranging from -2.8% to +7.1% compared to that of the TTTs calculated using the HT planning system