Comparative radiosensitivity of rat tracheal epithelial cells after in vitro alpha irradiation

The main risk in nuclear industry is the internal contamination after inhalation of high LET alpha emitters radionuclides. Main targets of pulmonary carcinogenesis are epithelial respiratory tract cells. An in vitro study was performed in order to determine if a difference in the radiosensitivity occurred in epithelial cells from the trachea of two rat strains: Sprague Dawley and Wistar Furth-Fischer F344 after alpha exposure. The cells were irradiated after sedimentation in a specific well. The irradiation was performed using 241Am electrodeposited sources. The irradiation dose cloning efficiency relation was evaluated. A kinetic study of the proliferation and the clonal growth has also been investigated. (authors)