Postirradiation utility of insulin in radiotherapy

The radiobiological effect of insulin was studied under laboratory conditions to find its utility in radiotherapy. Balb/c mice receiving injections of insulin after irradiation exhibited rapid recovery from radiation effect. This was evident from the data on their life span, organ weights and spleen colony assay studies, carried out under conditions of whole body and partial body irradiation. This trend was absent in mice injected with insulin before irradiation. The results of experiments on E. coli B/r and HA cells irradiated in the presence of insulin under oxic conditions suggest radioprotective effect of insulin. The E. coli B/r cells irradiated in the presence of insulin under hypoxia, however, showed a moderate radiosensitizing effect of insulin.