Effects of whole-body irradiation on a small South American primate, Saguinus fuscicollis.

Abstract

SummaryWhole-body radiation exposure (137Cs) of marmosets, a small South American primate, suggests a 30-day LD50 of 200 R. Haematological studies after irradiation showed a marked sensitivity for all parameters, with a slow and often incomplete recovery in animals which received only 100 R and 200 R. Immunological suppression was only temporary, even in animals exposed to an LD100 dose of 400 R, and recovery was complete in the 100 R and 200 R animals within two weeks after irradiation.At necropsy parasitism occurred in several of the marmosets; the acanthocephalan, Prosthenorchis elegans, was the most prevalent. Comparisons of the data in this study with previous reports on radiation effects in the rhesus, Macaca mulatta, indicates a greater reaction of the marmoset to radiation. Possible causes of the apparent radiosensitivity of the marmoset have been considered, particularly factors such as parasitism, unknown age of the animals, viral infections, and the blood chimaerism that exists naturally in the...