Clinical studies show that amifostine can reduce xerostomia and mucositis during radiotherapy of head and neck cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the radioprotective potency of amifostine with respect to late toxicity of salivary glands of rats. The head-neck-area of 8 male WAG/RijH rats (295 +/- 7 g) were irradiated with 60Co-gamma-rays (60 Gy/30 f/6 weeks). Amifostine (250 mg/m2 body surface) was applied via a venous port 15 min before each irradiation. Rats of a control group were irradiated with the same schedule with equal volumes of physiological saline. The morphological and sialoscintigraphical findings clearly demonstrate that amifostine has a remarkable cytoprotective effect on the late toxicity of irradiated salivary glands.
