title: A Comparison of In Vivo Cellular Responses to Cs-137 Gamma Rays And 320-kV X Rays.
abstract: Research reported here relates to comparing the relative effectiveness of 320-kV X rays compared to Cs-137 gamma rays for two in vivo endpoints in C.B-17 mice after whole-body exposure: (1) cytotoxicity to bone marrow cells and splenocytes evaluated at 24-hours post exposure and (2) bone marrow and spleen reconstitution deficits (repopulation shortfalls) evaluated at 6 weeks post exposure. We show that cytotoxicity dose-response relationships for bone marrow cells and splenocytes are complex, involving negative curvature (decreasing slope as dose increases), presumably implicating a mixed cell population comprised of large numbers of hypersensitive, modestly radiosensitive, and resistant cells. The radiosensitive cells appear to respond with 50% being killed by a dose < 0.5 Gy. The X-ray relative biological effectiveness (RBE), relative to gamma rays, for destroying bone marrow cells in vivo is > 1, while for destroying splenocytes it is < 1. In contrast, dose-response relationships for reconstitution deficits in the bone marrow and spleen of C.B-17 mice at 6 weeks after radiation exposure were of the threshold type with gamma rays being more effective in causing reconstitution deficit.
authors.affiliation: Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM.
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Gott
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Potter
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilder
keywords: RBE; X rays; bone marrow; cytotoxicity; gamma rays; splenocytes