Histopathology of Mice Fed Irradiated Foods

Abstract

A total in excess of 4000 mice of the Cb and Strong A strains were fed a composite diet composed of pork loin, whole boned chicken, evaporated milk, blanched carrots and white potatoes, which was 100% irradiated, the same diet non-irradiated, a similar diet in which only one component was irradiated, or a commercial pellet diet. Representative groups of mice were killed at periodic intervals after receiving the diet for from zero to 600 days, and tissue sections were prepared from specimens of all organs and tissues which were fixed in formalin at the time of necropsy. The fixed heart of each mouse was serially sectioned and mounted on film strips. All tissue sections and film strip mounts were examined by bright field microscopy. Cardiac auricular dilation and rupture reported to have been produced in these strains of mice, by the irradiated diets used, were not observed in any mouse in any diet group of this study. Extensive statistical evaluation of all lesions observed in the various phases of this study indicated that no lesion occured with significantly increased frequency in the irradiated diet groups.