Amount of peripheral reticulocytes as biologic dosimetry of ionizing radiation. Experiments in the rabbit

The amount of reticulocytes in peripheral blood generally reflect the bone-marrow status of erythropoiesis and may therefore be useful in evaluating radiation injury. The blood reticulocytes in rabbits exposed to various doses of ionizing radiation were examined using an apparatus capable of microfluorometric quantification of reticulocytes as well as the conventional technique of reticulocyte count. A dose-dependent decrease of reticulocytes was observed. The possibilities of further improvements of the technique using flow cytometry and its application for screening human population are discussed.