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Long-Term Pathologic and Behavioral Changes in Mice after Focal Deuteron Irradiation of the Brain

Journal Article · · Radiation Research
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2307/3571328· OSTI ID:4646230
Tissue sections were prepared from mice that received an entry dose of 8000 rads with 1.0-mm deuteron beams and from mice that received 72,000 rads with 0.025-mm slit microbeams, directed to discrete regions of the brain. The earliest histologic changes at 7 days postirradiation with 1.0-mm beams were confined to the end of the beam track (Bragg zone) and consisted of some early cell pyknosis and vascular congestion associated with either swollen or pyknotic endothelial nuclei. At 7 months after irradiation, these radiogenlc lesions were characterized by substantial enlargement resulting from the disappearance of additional nerve-cell bodies at the Bragg zone leaving only fluid-filled cavities without structural detail. The time course of the histopathologic change produced by 0.025-mm microbeams involved early selective nerve cell necrosis at 7 days postirradiation without evidence of vascular damage. Major delayed changes in the radiogenic lesions with time were not observed after microbeam irradiation. Fifty irradiated mice, including 10 sham-irradiated controls, were tested for long-term behavioral effects on open-field exploration, spontaneous locomotor activity in activity wheels, and stress reactivity under shock-elicited escapeavoidance conditioning. Beginning with the second month after irradiation, small but statistically significant differences were observed in some irradiated groups. Group differences in test performance included changes in relation to the behavior of the control group as well as among some irradiated groups. The irradiated group exposed to 1.0-mm deuteron beams at 8000 rads directed to the cerebellum was most clearly and consistently deviant on locomotor activity wheels and escape-avoidance conditioning. Other group differences in behavior were interpreted in terms of differences in beam size and geometry, dose level, and location of the radiogenic lesions.
Research Organization:
Cleveland Psychiatric Inst., Cleveland; Indiana Univ., Indianapolis; Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, N.Y.
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
NSA Number:
NSA-17-040606
OSTI ID:
4646230
Journal Information:
Radiation Research, Journal Name: Radiation Research Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 20; ISSN 0033-7587
Publisher:
Radiation Research Society
Country of Publication:
Country unknown/Code not available
Language:
English