N-Acetylcysteine Protection Against Radiation Induced Cellular Damage
Status:
Recruiting
Trial end date:
2023-02-03
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Catheter ablation procedures (CAPs) are first line treatment for a great variety of cardiac
arrhythmias. CAPs require X-Ray imaging; consequently, CAPs cause ionizing radiation (IR)
exposure for patients. Exposure to IR, even at low-doses, increases individual risk of
developing cancer. IR cause DNA damage directly and, mostly, indirectly by formation of
cellular free radicals. Furthermore different response to IR results from inherited variants
in genes involved in DNA damage repair. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is an aminoacid that can
directly neutralize free radicals and increase antioxidant systems. Our preliminary data
suggest that IR exposure in patients undergoing CAP deranges the oxidative stress status and
the pre-procedure intravenous administration of NAC could decrease such abnormality.