Biological dosimetry using the acridine orange stained micronucleus assay for human blood subpopulations

The usefulness of the acridine orange stained micronucleus using B and T-lymphocytes in human peripheral blood was evaluated after γ-irradiation (137Cs) with dose range of 0 to 300cGy. The frequencies of micronuclei in both lymphocytes increased dose-dependently. When analyzed with a linear-quadratic model, the line of best fit relative to the frequency of micronucleated B-lymphocytes (y=9Dx10-4-7.4D2x10-7(r2=0.96, y=frequency of micronucleus/1,000 cells, D=radiation dose in cGy) and T-lymphocytes (y=1Dx10-3-1.1D2x10-6, r2=0.94). The frequency of micronuclei in B-lymphocytes was observed at least two times higher than those of T-lymphocytes in low dose ranges from 0 to 50 cGy. These results indicate that the determination of low does radiation-induced micronuclei in B-lymphocytes compared to T-lymphocytes after staining with Acridine orange is like to have the greatest potential in estimation of radiation dosimetry