Microsatellite mutations in the offspring of irradiated parents 19 years after the Cesium-137 accident.
In September of 1987, a radiotherapy unit containing 50.9 TBq of Cs(137)Cl was removed from an abandoned radiotherapy clinic. This unit was subsequently disassembled leading to the most serious radiological accident yet to occur in the Western hemisphere. This event provides an opportunity to assess the genetic effects of ionizing radiation. We surveyed genetic variation of 12 microsatellite loci in 10 families of exposed individuals and their offspring and also in non-exposed families from the same area of Goias state. We found an increase in the number of new alleles in the offspring of the exposed individuals. The mutation rate was found to be higher in the exposed families compared to the control group. These results indicated that exposure to ionizing radiation can be detected in offspring of exposed individuals and also suggest that the elevated microsatellite mutation rate can be attributed to radioactive exposure.
da Cruz
Aparecido Divino
AD
Secretaria Estadual de Saúde de Goiás, Superintendência Leide das Neves Ferreira, Laboratório de Citogenética Humana e Genética Molecular (LaGene), Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil.
de Melo e Silva
Daniela
D
da Silva
Cláudio Carlos
CC
Nelson
R John
RJ
Ribeiro
Lígia Maria
LM
Pedrosa
Eduardo Rocha
ER
Jayme
Jivago Carneiro
JC
Curado
Maria Paula
MP
D032721:Adult Children; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D018095:Germ-Line Mutation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D010290:Parents; D018812:Paternal Exposure; D011839:Radiation, Ionizing; D011847:Radioactive Fallout; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release
D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D011847:Radioactive Fallout