Plutonium- or americium-induced liver tumors and lesions in beagles

Journal Article · Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991 · Health Physics; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1097/00004032-199109000-00003· OSTI ID:5011224

Taylor, G N; Lloyd, R D; Mays, C W; Angus, W; Miller, S C; Shabestari, L; Hahn, F F ^[1]

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1. Radiobiology Division, University of Utah, Salt Lake City (United States)

Plutonium-239 or 241Am administered intravenously in the monomeric citrate form was initially deposited in beagle livers principally in the hepatocytes and to a much lesser extent in the sinusoidal macrophages and connective tissues. The initial distribution was quite uniform throughout the hepatic parenchyma; however, at later postinjection intervals, depending on the amount of injected activity, the liver burden became increasingly more focal due to: (1) a progressive shift of the radionuclide from the hepatic epithelium to the macrophages; (2) the movement of such macrophages toward the portal or central regions of the lobule; and (3) the displacement of the older more radioactive tissue by regenerating hepatocytes, which generally have a much lower radionuclide content. The hepatic lesions produced by Pu or Am included: (1) necrosis and degenerative changes that were clinically serious or fatal in some of the animals injected with approximately 107 kBq kg-1; (2) marked structural and circulatory changes resulting from necrosis and focal hepatocyte hyperplasia; (3) a significant incidence of both benign and malignant primary liver tumors. In both Pu- and Am-treated dogs, the most frequently appearing neoplasm was the bile duct adenoma, followed by the cholangiocarcinoma. The most obvious difference between Pu- and Am-induced liver neoplasia was the greater frequency of fibrosarcomas and mast cell sarcomas in the Am-treated groups. Hepatomas were of relatively low frequency in animals with Pu or Am burdens. Although the incidence of bone neoplasia was high among the dogs in these studies, the risk of liver tumors, especially in the Am-treated animals, exceeded that of the skeleton in some of the lower dosage levels where the survival times were long.

• OSTI ID: 5011224
• Journal Information: Health Physics; (United States), Vol. 61:3; ISSN 0017-9078
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AMERICIUM 241
CARCINOGENESIS
EXPERIMENTAL NEOPLASMS
RADIOINDUCTION
LIVER
PLUTONIUM 239
BEAGLES
INTRAVENOUS INJECTION
MACROPHAGES
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
AMERICIUM ISOTOPES
ANIMAL CELLS
ANIMALS
BODY
CONNECTIVE TISSUE CELLS
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
DOGS
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
GLANDS
HEAVY NUCLEI
INJECTION
INTAKE
ISOTOPES
MAMMALS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ORGANS
PATHOGENESIS
PHAGOCYTES
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
RADIOISOTOPES
SOMATIC CELLS
SPONTANEOUS FISSION RADIOISOTOPES
VERTEBRATES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
560162* - Radionuclide Effects
Kinetics
& Toxicology- Animals
Plants
Microorganisms
& Cells