Radiation effects on diamine oxidase activities in intestine and plasma of the rat

Diamine oxidase (DAO; EC 1.4.3.6) activity was measured in plasma and ileal tissue homogenates prepared from male Sprague-Dawley rats sacrificed at 1-15 days after acute whole-body irradiation with 14.5-MeV electrons. Animals irradiated with 1 Gy showed no significant changes in plasma and ileal DAO activities through day 13 relative to nonirradiated controls. Animals irradiated with 5, 10 and 12 Gy displayed marked declines in ileal DAO, with levels reaching a nadir on day 3. This was paralleled by a decrease in plasma DAO activity in all three dose groups. Recovery of ileal and plasma DAO levels was later seen as early as day 4 in animals irradiated with 5 and 10 Gy doses, but animals receiving 12 Gy did not survive beyond day 3. A further study highlights the relationship between radiation dose and levels of plasma and mucosal DAO on day 3, the time of maximum decrease at all doses tested. Mucosal DAO activity decreased almost linearly with doses up to 6 Gy. Plasma DAO levels closely paralleled the dose dependency of the mucosal levels. These data suggest that plasma DAO activity might be useful as a readily measurable marker of intestinal epithelial injury and recovery after acute radiation exposure