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Female Germ Cell Loss From Radiation and Chemical Exposures
Author(s) -
Dobson R. Lowry,
Felton James S.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.1983.4.1-2.175
Subject(s) - oocyte , germ cell , radiosensitivity , andrology , germ , medicine , ionizing radiation , toxicology , embryo , biology , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , physiology , irradiation , radiation therapy , physics , nuclear physics , gene
Female germ cell in some mammals are extremely sensitive to killing by ionizing radiation, especially during development. Primordial oocytes in juvenile mice have an LD 30 of only 6‐7 rad, and the germ cell pool in squirrel monkeys is destroyed by prenatal exposure of 0.7 rad/day. Sensitivity varies greatly with species and germ cell stage. Unusually high sensitivity has not been found in macaques and may not occur in man, but this has not been established for all developmental stages. The exquisite oocyte radiosensitivity in mice apparently reflects vulnerability of the plasma membrane, not DNA, which may have implications fur estimating human genetic risks. Germ cells can be killed also by chemicals. Such oocyte loss, with similarities to radiation effects, is under increasing study, including chemotherapy observations in women. More than 75 compounds have been tested in mice, with in vivo toxicity quantified by oocyte loss; certain chemicals apparently act on the membrane.