Time-dependent biochemical changes in skin of whole body irradiated young and mature rats

Changes in rat skin collagen concentration and composition as well as concentration of aldehydes, dityrosine, hexoses and hexosamines were analyzed at different time intervals (up to 50 weeks) in animals irradiated with 5.0 or 6.5 Gy of whole body X-irradiation. Collagen content increased with rats age and time after irradiation. In addition, changes in collagen composition were noted, in particular an increased proportion of the polymeric form. Late increase in hexosamine content and transient increase in hexoses, dityrosine and aldehyde content were observed. However, the amount of aldehyde groups at later periods after irradiation decreased. A biphasic increase in vascular permeability in skin of irradiated rats took place during the first month after exposure. 28 refs., 4 figs., 5 tabs. (author)