Japan: Scientists discover that beer has radioprotective effects

The Japanese National Institute of Radiological Sciences in collaboration with the Tokyo University of Science discovered a distinctive property of beer components. They made experiments on human vascular cells and mice. The two partners have shown that the administration of beer components such as betaine, beta-pseudouridine, glycine and melatonin have radioprotective effects.

Particularly, when beta-pseudouridine is administered, the risk of chromosome abnormalities in human lymphocytes is reduced by 34 percent. The survival rates of mice after exposures to radiation, both low-LET radiation and heavy particle radiation, are improved when glycine betaine is administered.

The Japanese National Institute of Radiological Sciences believes that this finding would favour the development of radioprotective agents.