US DOE ANCHIVES |.326 U.S,COMMISSION ATOMIC ENERGY | RG DOE HIsTeRIAN Collection Box 3363 Folder =. oe (O87) 3 VS2 MONTHLY STATUS AND PROGRESS RRFORT aosi7s ! LS: =, a @ Divialon of Blology and Medicine #25 MORTH OF JUNE, 1953 coting the effects of teria netalt, both radioactive and nonrediosstive, with special emphasis on plutomius and beryllium, Fositive results have been achieved in the treatuent of experinzental plutonium and yttriuz poisonding by sirconium salts and in acute experimental beryliiosis by surintri- carboxylic acid (474). In recent tests with mice, sirooniun oltrate given before or within an hour after plutoniue injections caused: a) a marked inerease in plutonium excretion (spproximetely 136 to an mich oe a0. of injected dose); and b) a decrease in the amcunts deposited in the bone (approximately 65% to 10% of the dose). The effect of yttrium is similar but less marked, In mice injected repeatedly with an LD-95 of beryllium sulfate (0.7 /kilogram body weight), it was found that adainistration of marimtricarboxylic acid following each berylliun injection not only protected the animals but enabled them to survive while still containing lethal amounts of beryllium, Studies elucidating the mode of action of ATA have a eee este for the Selectionef other compounds of potential therapeutic value as well as a insight into some of the chemical mechanisns involved in matal-ensyme interaction. Studies ca Passive Temunity. (UNCLASSIFIED) Experiments have been under nchAver Doratory designed to test the effect of whole poly gumin irradiation on immcity nochend ves. A Cobslt-60 source was used for the studies and radiation dosages of approximately 650 reentgens equiva- Lent physical (the LD-50 being 750 repe) were administered to mice. Evaluation of the results shows that while irradiation effectively destroys the imumarity te pnewnccoccal infection even in the presence of abundant specific antibody, it does not abolish active imamity to the infinenza Type A virus, nor the activity of tetams antitoxin present at the time of irradiation. Taken together with other bits of evidence, this finding suggesta that the lowered antibacterial resistance following wholebedy irradiation is attributable primarily to the failure of phegocytosis by reason of the white call deficiency, and that this phagocytosis may not BEST COPY AVAILABLE DOSARCHIVES