The Influence of Temperature at Irradiation <i>in Vitro</i> on the Yield of Chromosomal Aberrations in Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes

Abstract

SummaryThe effect of temperature during in vitro irradiation of whole blood microcultures on the yield of chromosomal aberrations was studied. It was found that lowering the temperature from 37 to 20°c led to pronounced reduction in the yield of dicentrics and acentric fragments; the magnitude of similar effects on the yield of rings and intercalary deletions could not be assessed firmly. Decreased temperature abolished the previously-reported dependence of the dicentric response curve on the dose-rate at which x-rays were delivered. It is postulated that lack of temperature control during irradiations is likely to be responsible for the main part of discrepancy between in vitro dose–effect relations for dicentrics as reported by various authors.