Effect of low-dose radiation on frequencies of chromosome aberrations and micronucleus-containing cells of occupationally exposed individuals: a Meta analysis

Objective: To quantitatively investigate the effect of low-dose ionizing radiation on the frequencies of chromosome aberrations and micronucleus-containing cells of radiation workers. Methods: Nine electronic databases were systematically searched on the basis of the published studies evaluating the effects of low-dose ionizing radiation on the frequencies of chromosome aberrations and micronucleus-containing cells. Of the 195 studies searched, 21 studies were identified with a total of 1970626 cells under studying. Cochrane's Q and I² statistics were used to evaluate heterogeneity among studies and pooling odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using random-effect models or fixed-effect models, and publication bias were also calculated. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata 12.0. Results: The pooling OR of chromosome-type aberrations [OR = 3.03(2.59, 3.56)], dicentric plus centric rings [OR = 4.12(2.99, 5.67)], translocations [OR = 2.73(1.67, 4.46)], micronucleus-containing cells [OR = 1.70(1.40-2.06)] were higher for radiation workers when compared with control group. Conclusions: The frequencies of chromosome aberrations and micronucleus cell of peripheral lymphocytes are significantly high in radiation workers who were occupationally exposed to low-dose ionizing radiation. It should be noted that the radiation protection of radiological workers be enhanced. (authors)