Effect of X-Ray Exposure on Oxidative Stress in Liver and Kidney in Rats in Early Life: An Experimental Study

The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of oxidative stress and antioxidants in the liver and kidney tissue of baby rats exposed to whole-body x-ray by creating a newborn rat model.In this study, 60 baby rats obtained from 15 pregnant rats were used.Pregnant rats were randomly divided into five groups.The control group (Group I) was not subjected to X-ray.The 2 nd and 3 rd groups were subjected to both intrauterine and postnatal X-ray, and the 4 th and 5 th groups were subjected to only postnatal X-ray.At the end of the 4-week study period, oxidative stress markers were studied in the liver and kidney tissue.In all groups that received X-ray, an increase in the amounts of malondialdehyde (MDA) and advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), a decrease in the amount of glutathione (GSH) and catalase (CAT) activity were detected in liver tissues (P<0.05), and an increase in the activities of MDA, AOPP and CAT, and a decrease in the amount of GSH were detected in kidney tissues (P<0.05).These findings indicate that X-ray exposure in early life disrupts the antioxidant defense system by inducing oxidative stress in liver and kidney tissues, highlighting the necessity of minimizing unnecessary radiation exposure in clinical practice.