Haemopoietic recovery during radiation disease: comments on combined-injuries

The regenerative ability of haemopoietic organs during combined radiation injuries has not been adequately investigated. Interactions among individual factors can critically influence the processes involved in haemopoietic recovery. An overview of radiation injuries is given, and a concept towards a hypothetical mode of action at the cellular level is presented. The influence which interacting factors can have on the concentration of pluripotential haemopoietic stem cells (HSC) is demonstrated by results from an initial experiment. The importance of synergistic and antagonistic reactions is emphasised and commented upon.