Possibilities of the microelectrophoresis technique for the assessment of risk at low-dose irradiation

The heterogeneity of lymphocytes in the amount of pre- existing (spontaneous) and radiation-induced DNA lesions is demonstrated using the modified microelectrophoresis technique. Irradiation of lymphocytes at 1 cGy leads to two-fold decrease in the amount of pre-existing DNA lesions 2h later. Therefore the beneficial effect of adaptive irradiation of cells is probably explained by the inducing of the repair mechanism that makes the lymphocytes less susceptible to the subsequent exposure. (author)