Lymphocyte proliferative responses to mitogens in rats having an ancestry of a perinatal iodine-131 insult.
The possible existence of a genealogical memory consisting of altered lymphocyte proliferative responses to a perinatal iodine-131 insult has been investigated in two generations of inbred Fischer F344 rat offspring. The studies which involved exposure to the radioiodine during late pregnancy with concentrations ranging from 1.85 MBq (50 microCi) to 7.4 MBq (200 microCi) revealed that only the peripheral blood T lymphocytes of the first generation male animals were significantly affected. These animals were found to possess T lymphocytes which exhibited increased proliferative responses expressed toward the mitogens concanavalin A and phytohemagglutin; however, no significant changes were noticeable in their B cell population following exposure to lipopolysaccharide. Neither the first generation females nor the male and female offspring of the second generation developed through sibling interbreeding seemed to be affected, this was unlike the cellular, humoral, and natural immunity which had previously been observed to be changed in both the second and third generation animals. These observations suggest that the effects of the radiation insult upon immunocompetency as measured by lymphocyte proliferation do not appear to be inherited.
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000502:physiology; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000633:toxicity*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D008934:Mitogens; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D012737:Sex Factors
D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D008934:Mitogens