Open AccessA Comparison of Low and High Dose‐Rate Radiation For Recipient Mice In Spleen‐Colony Studies
Author(s) -
Lord B. I.,
Hendry J. H.,
Keene J. P.,
Hodgson B. W.,
Xu C. X.,
Rezvani M.,
Jordan T. J.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
cell proliferation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.647
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1365-2184
pISSN - 0960-7722
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2184.1984.tb00592.x
Subject(s) - spleen , endogeny , irradiation , dose rate , biology , nuclear medicine , andrology , chemistry , radiochemistry , immunology , endocrinology , medicine , physics , nuclear physics
Over the last 15 years, endogenous spleen‐colony formation in our mice, following lethal irradiation, has increased to an unacceptable level. It has been found necessary, therefore, to introduce a new method of preparing recipient mice for spleen‐colony studies. Irradiation with low dose‐rate 60 Cobalt γ rays has been compared with high dose‐rate linear accelerator electrons, and their effects on endogenous spleen colony formation compared with earlier X and γ ray dose‐response data. It was found that a large dose (13.5 Gy) of γ rays results in fewer endogenous colonies than 8.5 Gy of electrons, yet because of its low dose rate (14.1 × 10 −3 Gy/min) it has a marked sparing of the intestinal tissue as measured by the intestinal microcolony technique. This in turn permits better survival and, therefore, a ‘healthier’ animal for spleen‐colony work. Exogenous colony formation is also lower in the low dose‐rate, γ‐irradiated recipients and this is shown to be due to a reduced spleen‐seeding efficiency. It is concluded that very low dose‐rate radiation is preferable for haemopoietic ablation, that a mouse colony requires constant monitoring for changes of endogenous spleen‐colony formation and that the spleen‐seeding efficiency of CFU‐s depends on the irradiation technique used‐there is no absolute value for a given strain of mouse.