title: Individual variation and age dependency in the radiosensitivity of peripheral blood T-lymphocytes from normal donors.
abstract: To investigate individual variation and age dependency in normal cell radiosensitivity, we measured the in vitro radiosensitivity of cultured peripheral blood T-lymphocytes derived from 56 healthy male blood donors. Dose-survival tests using colony formation assay were done with exponential growing T-cells (day 3, PHA-stimulated cells). 6-Thioguanine (6-TG)-resistant mutation assays at the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase (HPRT) locus were done with G0 phase T-cells (day 0, unstimulated cells). The mean inactivation dose (MID) computed by integration of the fitted survival curves was 1.25 +/- 0.23 Gy (mean +/- SD). The X-ray dose required to kill 90% of the cells (D10) was 2.81 +/- 0.51 Gy. The MID ranged from 0.82 to 1.86 Gy with a coefficient of variation (CV) of 18%. The induced mutation frequencies (MF) per 10(6) cells at 2 Gy of X-rays ranged from 9.10 to 54.80 with a mean +/- SD value of 24.63 +/- 12.51 and a CV of 51%. It appears that the radiosensitivity of cell killing and mutagenicity varies among individuals. Although the spontaneous MF at the HPRT locus increases with age, the induced MF after exposure to 2 or 4 Gy of X-rays was not associated with age. Moreover, there were no significant correlations between age and MID values or the other dose-survival parameters. The findings indicate there is significant inter-individual variation in cellular radiosensitivity, but that in human T-lymphocytes aging does not affect the cytotoxic and mutagenic effects of X-irradiation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Biology and Health, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mei
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Imada
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nomoto
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kunugita
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Norimura
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000528:radiation effects; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D011836:Radiation Tolerance; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000528:radiation effects*