Adaptive response to 2 low doses of X-rays in human blood lymphocytes.

Human peripheral blood lymphocytes exposed to a single adaptive dose of 1 cGy X-rays or 2 adaptive doses, each of 1 cGy, were found to be equally resistant to the induction of chromosome damage by subsequent challenge with a high dose of 1 Gy X-rays, as compared to cells that were not pre-exposed. They responded with a significantly reduced incidence of chromatid and isochromatid breaks. These results indicate the presence of an inducible chromosomal repair mechanism in human blood lymphocytes and confirm the observations made by earlier investigators. The incidence of chromosome damage was found to be similar in the lymphocytes pre-exposed to a single or 2 adaptive doses, suggesting that, under the conditions tested, the second adaptive dose did not offer any additional protection against the chromosome damage induced by the challenge dose.

Chromatid breaks induced in Chinese hamster cells by low doses (12--100 rad) of pi--mesons.

Monolayer cultures of the fibroblast-like Chinese hamster cell-line 19/1 were irradiated in the G2-phase of the cell cycle by pi--mesons (6 rad/min peak-pion dose rate). Frequencies of induced single- and isochromatid breaks, acentric fragments and interchanges were compared with data obtained from 140 kV X-rays. The RBE-values were for the pion dose peak between 0.8--1.2 and for the pion dose plateau 0.5--0.9. Whereas for single chromatid breaks there was no significant difference between X-rays and peak pions for identical physical doses, the isochromatid breaks alone showed a significantly higher frequency for 100 rad peak pions.