Effects of ionizing radiation on pharyngeal pumping in

Suzuki, Michiyo; Sakashita, Tetsuya; Hattori, Yuya; Tsuji, Toshio*; Kobayashi, Yasuhiko

We examined the effects of -rays on pumping of pharyngeal muscles in . Irradiated animals were classified into 2 groups. One group stopped pumping immediately after irradiation and the other showed normal pumping activity. This tendency of the 2 groups was distinctly different from that of locomotion using body-wall muscles, wherein the motility of the irradiated animals reduced in the normal distribution wholly in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, the pumping activity was completely restored within 2 h and the restoration rate was higher than that of locomotion. These results indicate that the whole body irradiation reduced the pumping and locomotion in a different way, but both movements were restored within several hours.