The feasibility of using automatic micronucleus assay to test micronucleus in lymphocyte of radiation workers / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the feasibility of using a High-Throughput Chromosome Automatic Scanning System (Metafer 4) to carry out automatic micronucleus detection for radiation workers.Methods:A total of 2 005 radiation workers selected were divided into five groups in terms of diagnostic radiology, radiotherapy, nuclear medicine, interventional radiology and industrial application.The Metafer 4 was used to assay micronuclei in peripheral blood lymphocytes from the subjects, with the factors affecting micronuclei analyzed. A total of 200 micronucleus samples collected by stratified random sampling were manually assayed for comparison of micronuclei frequency and detection efficiency between automatic and manual analysis.Results:The mean micronuclei frequency in 2 005 radiation workers were measured to be (0.92±0.02) ×10 -3. There was significant difference in the frequencies of micronuclei among the five groups ( χ2=11.054, P<0.05), with higher micronuclei frequency in interventional radiology group(1.00±0.03) ×10 -3 than in other groups ( χ2=5.568, 5.334, 7.689, P<0.05). Statistically significant difference could be observed in annual effective dose, length of service and micronuclei frequency among the radiation workers in different medical applications ( F=3.026, χ2=11.582, 8.878, P<0.05). A positive correlation between annual effective dose and micronucleus frequency was shown by Pearson analysis ( r=0.106, P<0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the automatic assay-based micronuclei frequencies were associated with length of service and work categories( r=9.485×10 -6, 5.660×10 -5, P<0.05), significantly lower when compared with manual analysis ( χ2=169.259, P<0.05). There was a consistency (ICC=0.713, P<0.05) between the two assay methods, but automatic analysis can increase the assayed micronucleus frequency by about 5 folds. Conclusions:The micronucleus frequency tested by automatic detection reflects genetic damage from low-dose chronic radiation exposure, and there may be feasibility of using automatic analysis to assay micronucleus of radiation workers.