Quantification of histoautoradiographic evidence of DNA repair synthesis in the liver

Histoautoradiography was used to detect dimethylnitrosamine-induced 3H-thymidine incorporation in vivo into G phase hepatocytes. The description of the standard procedure for counting the grains and the mode of mathematical evaluation are presented. The results exhibited higher sensitivity than those in the investigation of the DNA repair synthesis by means of a scintillation counter using the method of detecting hydroxyurea-resistant incorporation of 3H-thymidine. Thus, it was possible to simplify the investigation by lowering the number of evaluated cells. A suitable compromise between precision and laboriousness will probably be achieved by counting 20 hepatocytes per animal. In case of striking differences between the experimental and the control groups a qualitative conclusion may be drawn even without counting the grains. (author). 5 tabs., 10 refs