title: Continuous cytogenetic follow-up, over 5 years, of three individuals accidentally irradiated by a cobalt-60 source.
abstract: A cobalt-60 irradiation accident occurred in Shanxi, China, on April 11, 2008. Five people were exposed to total-body irradiation ranging from 1.7 to 14.5 Gy. Two victims died post-irradiation, due to acute intestinal radiation sickness (at 62 days) and tuberculosis (at 1.5 year). The other three victims received medical follow-ups and were monitored for 5 years with multiple cytogenetic analyses. Unstable chromosome aberrations, including dicentric and centric rings (dic+r) and the micronucleus frequency in binucleated lymphocytes, were monitored. In addition, G-banding karyotype and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) methods were used to analyze translocations, for exploring chromosome stability and for retrospective dosimetry. The results show that unstable chromosome aberrations (dic+r) declined each year, dropping to about 20-40% of initial levels by the 5th year. A similar trend was observed for the micronucleus frequency. Our results show that the translocation frequencies of the three victims, detected by G-banding karyotype, remained stable for the 5 years. Five years after irradiation, the translocation rates of the three victims (G-banding and FISH analyses) were similar. The retrospective estimated doses, reconstructed based on the translocation frequencies, were consistent with the biological doses estimated at the first day post-irradiation using dic+r. The results of this study indicate that chromosome translocation frequencies can be used as a biological dosimeter and are an excellent index for dose reconstruction.
authors: Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, 27 Taiping Road, Beijing 100850, China.
authors: Zhi-Dong
authors: ZD
authors: Wang
authors: Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, 27 Taiping Road, Beijing 100850, China.
authors: Xue-Qing
authors: XQ
authors: Zhang
authors: Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, 27 Taiping Road, Beijing 100850, China.
authors: Jie
authors: J
authors: Du
authors: China CDC Key Laboratory of Radiological Protection and Nuclear Emergency, National Institute for Radiological Protection, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100088, China.
authors: Xue
authors: X
authors: Lu
authors: Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, 27 Taiping Road, Beijing 100850, China.
authors: Yuan
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: Affiliated Hospital of China Institute for Radiation Protection, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province 030006, China.
authors: Rong
authors: R
authors: Tian
authors: China CDC Key Laboratory of Radiological Protection and Nuclear Emergency, National Institute for Radiological Protection, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100088, China. Electronic address: qjliu@nirp.cn.
authors: Qing-Jie
authors: QJ
authors: Liu
authors: Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, 27 Taiping Road, Beijing 100850, China. Electronic address: yingchen_29@163.com.
authors: Ying
authors: Y
authors: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations / Q000528:radiation effects; D002871:Chromosome Banding; D003037:Cobalt Radioisotopes / Q000097:blood* / Q000633:toxicity*; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D007621:Karyotyping; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000528:radiation effects; D008297:Male; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000473:pathology; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release; D014178:Translocation, Genetic
chemical_list: D003037:Cobalt Radioisotopes
keywords: Biological dose; Chromosomal aberration; Dose reconstruction; Follow-up observation; Radiation accident