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Time-course of translocation and dicentric frequencies in a radiation accident case
M Bauchinger1, E Schmid, H Braselmann
1GSF-National Research Center for Environment and Health, Institute of Radiobiology, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany.
Purpose:
To assess the persistence of exchange aberrations measured by FISH chromosome painting after accidental radiation exposure.
Materials And Methods:
Chromosome analyses were carried out in peripheral lymphocytes of a 13-year-old boy exposed to protracted low dose-rate whole-body and short-time partial-body irradiation from a radiation accident in Estonia in 1994. Up to November 1998, the frequencies of translocations and dicentrics were periodically measured using FISH chromosome painting of the target chromosomes 1, 4 and 12, with a simultaneous pancentromeric probe.
Results:
For the yields of dicentrics, an expected rapid temporal decline was found with a half-time of 14.2+/-1.9 months. The yields of reciprocal translocations also revealed a gradual but significant reduction with a half-time of 51.7+/-12.7 months.
Conclusion:
An unchanged temporal persistence of so-called stable translocations cannot be assumed. Any significant reduction of this aberration type with time obviously limits the application of FISH-based translocation measurements for reliable long-term biodosimetry after combined protracted whole-body and partial-body radiation exposure.