DOSE AND DOSE RATE EFFECTS OF IRRADIATION ON BLOOD COUNT AND CYTOKINE LEVEL IN BALB/c MICE

Abstract

The biological effects of radiation are dependent on the dose rate and dose of radiation. In this study, effects of dose and dose rate using whole body radiation on plasma cytokines and blood count from male BALB/c mice were evaluated. We examined the blood and cytokine changes in mice exposed to a low (3.49 mGy h-1) and high (2.6 Gy min-1) dose rate of radiation at a total dose of 0.5 and 2 Gy, respectively. Blood from mice exposed to radiation were evaluated using cytokine assays and complete blood count. Peripheral lymphocytes and neutrophils decreased in a dose dependent manner following high dose rate radiation. The peripheral lymphocytes population remained unchanged following low dose rate radiation; however, the neutrophils population increased after radiation. The sera from these mice exhibited elevated levels of flt3 ligand and granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), after high/low dose rate radiation. These results suggest that low-dose-rate radiation does not induce blood damage, which was unlike high-dose-rate radiation treatment; low-dose-rate radiation exposure activated the hematopoiesis through the increase of flt3 ligand and G-CSF.