The histopathological comparison of L-carnitine with amifostine for protective efficacy on radiation-induced acute small intestinal toxicity

Background: The aim of the study was to compare the protective efficacy of l-carnitine (LC) to amifostine on radiation-induced acute small intestine damage. Materials and Methods: Thirty, 4-week-old Wistar albino rats were randomly assigned to four groups - Group 1: control (CONT, n = 6), Group 2: irradiation alone (RT, n = 8), Group 3: amifostine plus irradiation (AMIRT, n = 8), and Group 4: l-Carnitine plus irradiation (LCRT, n = 8). The rats in all groups were irradiated individually with a single dose of 20 Gy to the total abdomen, except those in CONT. LC (300 mg/kg) or amifostine (200 mg/kg) was used 30 min before irradiation. Histopathological analysis of small intestine was carried out after euthanasia. Results: Pretreatment with amifostine reduced the radiation-induced acute degenerative damage (P = 0.009) compared to the RT group. Pretreatment with LC did not obtain any significant difference compared to the RT group. The vascular damage significantly reduced in both of the AMIRT (P = 0.003) and LCRT group (P = 0.029) compared to the RT group. The overall damage score was significantly lower in the AMIRT group than the RT group (P = 0.009). There was not any significant difference between the LCRT and RT group. Conclusions: Amifostine has a marked radioprotective effect against all histopathological changes on small intestinal tissue while LC has limited effects which are mainly on vascular structure.