Effects of 2.0 Gy of 60Co gamma rays irradiation on rat embryos

Pregnant rats of Donryu strain were exposed to a whole-body 60Co γ ray irradiation of a single dose of 2.0 Gy (Dose rate: 0.5 Gy/min) on day 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11 of gestation (sperm day = day 0). The rats were sacrificed on day 18 and the offspring were examined for external and visceral malformations. Malformed embryos occurred between days 7 and 11 with the highest incidence occurring on day 9. Dose with 2.0 Gy increased the rate of resorption or death (52.1 %), in the survivors, caused congenital malformation in a majority of embryos (86.5 %) on day 8 of gestation. There is an increase in malformation (93.3 %) and growth retardation, but no increase in mortality (42.9 %) on day 9 of gestation. Relatively few anomalies resulted from irradiation on day 7 of gestation. The peak day for cardiovascular anomalies occurred on day 9 (88.3 % of all survival embryos) with high levels also occurring on day 8 (86.5 %). Cardiovascular anomalies consisted of VSD, hypoplasia of the pulmonary trunk, coarctation of the aorta, double aortic arch, right aortic arch, riding aorta, complete transposition of the aorta, persistent atrioventricular canal, vascular ring, aberrant right subclavian artery and others. Similar anomalies, but at a lower incidence, were produced by 60Co γ ray at dose levels of 2.0 Gy on day 10 or 11 of gestation. Cases of cleft lip and cleft palate or facial cleft were observed seventeen fetuses on day 9 of gestation (31 %). Exencephaly occurred in nine embryos treated on day 9 (16.1 %) and in one embryos treated on day 10. Tail defects appeared with treatment on day 9 with the latter predominating on day 11. The present study show that maximum resorption (52.1 %) was seen with treatment on day 8 whereas the highest rate of malformation (93.3 %) was observed with treatment on day 9. (J.P.N.)