Determination of protective properties of some drug-active compounds against gamma radiation damage

Abstract

Gamma rays are electromagnetic radiation with ionising properties resulting from the decay of an unstable atomic nucleus. It can cause cancer-like damage to live cells due to their high penetrating properties. This radiation is widely used in medicine industry and nuclear applications. The development of protective drug agents has started to gain prominence to reduce or stop the damage caused by γ-rays. In this study, the radioprotective effects of 11 different active pharmaceutical ingredients (acetaminophen, amikacin disulphate salt, amoxicillin trihydrate, cephalexin monohydrate, chlortetracycline hydrochloride, gentamicin sulphate, lincomycin hydrochloride, potassium iodide, spectinom dihydrochloride pentahydrate, tetracycline hydrochloride and trimethoprim) were investigated both experimentally and theoretically. Gamma transmission measurements were conducted with a 100 mCi 59.54 keV energy ²⁴¹Am point source and an ultra-high purity Ge detector. Gamma radiation shielding parameters, such as mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), linear attenuation compound (LAC), half-value layer (HVL), mean free path (MFP) and Z_eff, were calculated using the WinXCom program. The obtained results were compared with the experimental results. All samples have gamma radiation shielding ability. However, the PAC8 and PAC9 samples have higher absorption ability than the others (PAC stands for pharmacologically active compound). In addition, it was investigated whether gamma radiation caused any changes in the chemical structure of these active substances with tandem mass spectrometry and FTIR spectroscopy. The present study determined pharmaceutically active substances that can develop new radiation-shielding drugs in nuclear applications such as medical diagnosis and radiation therapy.