Radiation induced effect of the vitamins C, E and beta-carotene on sanazole efficiency. A study in vitro

The effect of the vitamins C, E-acetate and beta-carotene on the sanazole (AK-2123) efficiency was investigated in vitro (E. coli bacteria AB 1157) under the influence of gamma-rays. The vitamins were applied with sanazole individually or in appropriate mixtures in airfree media as well as in media saturated with nitrous oxide (N2O) or air. The addition of vitamin C led in all cases to a very strong enhancement of the sanazole efficiency, namely: in airfree media to 2-fold, in the presence of N2O to 1.5-fold and in the presence of air to 2-fold. The influence of vitamin E-acetate and beta-carotene and mixtures of them depended on the respective gas used for saturation of the medium. An attempt was made to estimate the role of the reducing (e-aq, H-atoms) and oxidizing radicals (OH, O2.-) in respect to the influence of the sanazole activity. The results are of interest for the chemoradiation therapy of cancer.