Page 81 - Effects of radiotherapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy on oral microcirculation Renee Helmers

RESULTS
All animals responded well to the IR model and the repeated microcirculation measurement protocol with no signs of distress or discomfort. Transportation
of the anesthetized animals to and from the IR lab was uneventful. After
returning the animals to their housing and reversing anesthesia, no signs
of distress or distressed recovery was observed. At T11 groups I-III showed
significant increases in body mass compared to baseline (p<0.05). When body
mass was examined separately in each animal, a marked decrease in body
mass was noted in one animal from group IV, in which weight loss started from
T7 and resulted in a 16% lower body mass at T11 compared to T6. Whole blood
count parameters (Hb, PLT, RBC, WBC) remained within normal reference value
range9,14 throughout all time points. Groups I, III and IV showed a recurrent
significant decrease in PLT count and group IV a significant decrease in WBC 4 count at different time points. Whole blood count parameters and body mass
are presented in Table 1.
IR-related clinical observations
In group I, II and III no remarkable clinical observations were noted. At T2 both animals in group IV showed erythema of the irradiated skin [Fig. 1A] and one subject showed signs of mucositis around the area of the lower incisors [Fig. 1B]. These observations subsided by T3. Furthermore, both animals in group IV showed no regrowth of fur at the site of IR after 5 weeks (T5) [Fig. 1C], a notable difference compared to the other groups in which all subject showed full fur regrowth by this time point (T5). At T8 general fur regrowth started to appear in group IV and was fully recovered by T11.
Mandibular mucosa microcirculation response to IR
Good image quality (i.e. brightness/contrast, sharpness, clarity and absence of pressure artifacts) was obtained with the MicroScan on the lingual aspect of the mandibular mucosa. In each animal (n=8), 4 clips in total were obtained per time point; a total of 384 clips were analyzed (12 time points).
Onset of late irradiation effects
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