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Glucan: Mechanisms Involved in Its “Radioprotective” Effect

It has generally been accepted that most biologically derived agents that are radioprotective in the hemopoietic‐syndrome dose range (eg. endotoxin, Bacillus Calmette Guerin, Corynebacterium parvum, etc) exert their beneficial properties by enhancing hemopoietic recovery and hence, by regenerating the host's ability to resist life‐threatening opportunistic infections. However, using glucan as a hemopoietic stimulant/radi‐oprotectant, we have demonstrated that host resistance to opportunistic infection is enhanced in these mice even prior to the detection of significant hemopoietic regeneration. This early enhanced resistance to microbial invasion in glucan‐treated irradiated mice could be correlated with enhanced and/or prolonged macrophage (but not granulocyte) function. These results suggest that early after irradiation glucan may mediate its radioprotection by enhancing resistance to microbial invasion via mechanisms not necessarily predicated on hemopoietic recovery. In addition, preliminary evidence suggests that glucan can also function as an effective free‐radical scavenger. Because macrophages have been shown to selectively phagocytize and sequester glucan, the possibility that these specific cells may be protected by virtue of glucan's scavenging ability is also suggested.