Prophylactic action of imidazole against radiation-induced changes in water and ionic contents of mammalian diaphragm muscle

When male albino rats of the Wistar strain were exposed to whole-body gamma irradiation at a dose of 8.5 GY, water and sodium contents in the diaphragm muscle increased while the potassium content decreased demonstrating a well pronounced damage to the normal electrolyte pattern. When imidazole was intraperitoneally injected prior to irradiation, those contents restored their normal levels reflecting a prophylactic role of imidazole against such biological effects of irradiation. The results are discussed in relation to the relevant literature