title: The Causal Relationship between DNA Damage Induction in Bovine Lymphocytes and the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Accident.
abstract: The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) accident, the largest nuclear incident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, occurred when the plant was hit by a tsunami triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. The subsequent uncontrolled release of radioactive substances resulted in massive evacuations in a 20-km zone. To better understand the biological consequences of the FNPP accident, we have been measuring DNA damage levels in cattle in the evacuation zone. DNA damage was evaluated by assessing the levels of DNA double-strand breaks in peripheral blood lymphocytes by immunocytofluorescence-based quantification of γ-H2AX foci. A greater than two-fold increase in the fraction of damaged lymphocytes was observed in all animal cohorts within the evacuation zone, and the levels of DNA damage decreased slightly over the 700-day sample collection period. While the extent of damage appeared to be independent of the distance from the accident site and the estimated radiation dose from radiocesium, we observed age-dependent accumulation of DNA damage. Thus, this study, which was the first to evaluate the biological impact of the FNPP accident utilizing the γ-H2AX assays, indicated the causal relation between high levels of DNA damage in animals living in the evacuation zone and the FNPP accident.
authors.affiliation: a   Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, Ibaraki University, Mito, Ibaraki, Japan.|b   Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Osaka Medical College, Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Asako J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: c   Department of Pathology, Institutes of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: d   Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Christophe E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Redon
authors.affiliation: c   Department of Pathology, Institutes of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kuwahara
authors.affiliation: e   Faculty of Agriculture, Niigata University, Niigata, Niigata, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamashiro
authors.affiliation: f   National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.affiliation: c   Department of Pathology, Institutes of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Shintaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: g   Laboratory of Cell Engineering and Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Iwate University, Morioka, Iwate, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomokazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.affiliation: h   Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Emiko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Isogai
authors.affiliation: d   Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: William M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Bonner
authors.affiliation: c   Department of Pathology, Institutes of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukumoto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods; D002417:Cattle; D015984:Causality; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000235:genetics*; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005260:Female; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D000069079:Radiation Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity