Stromal damage in the mouse small intestine after Co60 gamma or D-T neutron irradiation

Stromal constituents have been examined in mouse small intestine 3 1/2 days after irradiation with either 18-20 Gy gamma rays or 10 Gy neutrons. These doses were chosen for their equivalent effect on the number of intestinal crypts found after treatment. Despite the fact that the topography of the villi, as imaged by scanning electron microscopy, was altered by treatment, with gamma irradiated villi showing lateral or horizontal collapse while neutron irradiation produced conical villi, few changes were seen in the villous stromal compartments. There were, however, ultrastructural changes observed in the stroma of the pericryptal plate. Changes common to both radiation schedules included disorganisation of the subepithelial stroma and an increase in the number of irregular processes. Some changes after irradiation, however, were not identical in the two groups. Gamma irradiation resulted in pale, foamy cytoplasmic vesicles, the separation of smooth muscle cells and changes in the structure of the luminal aspect of arterial blood vessels while neutron irradiation produced dense cytoplasmic vesicles and electron dense bodies within the substance of peripheral nerve twigs. The fact that the variation in the topography of villi after the two types of radiation is matched by changes in the deep stroma rather than within the villi themselves indicates that the stromal pericryptal plate is of importance in the structure of the villus and the extent to which the villi have varied from the normal finger shaped structure.