Histologic effects of high energy electron and proton irradiation of rat brain detected with a silver-degeneration stain

• Published in: Advances in space research Vol. 14; no. 10; pp. 443 - 451
• Main Authors: Switzer, R.C., Bogo, V., Mickley, G.A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.10.1994
• Subjects: Animals; Astrocytes - pathology; Astrocytes - radiation effects; Behavior, Animal - radiation effects; Brain - pathology; Brain - radiation effects; Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; Electrons; Male; Protons; Radiation Dosage; Radiation, Ionizing; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Silver Staining - methods
• ISSN: 0273-1177; 1879-1948
• DOI: 10.1016/0273-1177(94)90498-7

Application of the degeneration sensitive, cupric-silver staining method to brain sections of male Sprague-Dawley rats irradiated 4 days before sacrifice with 155 Mev protons, 2–8 Gy at 1 Gy/min (N=6) or 22–101Gy at 20 Gy/min (N=16) or with 18.6 Mev electrons, 32–67 Gy at 20 Gy/min (N=20), doses which elicit behavioral changes (accelerod or conditioned taste aversion), resulted in a display of degeneration of astrocyte-like cell profiles which were not uniformly distributed. Plots of ‘degeneration scores’ (counts of profiles in 29 areas) vs. dose for the proton and electron irradiations displayed a linear dose response for protons in the range of 2–8 Gy. In the 20–100 Gy range, for both electrons and protons the points were distributed in a broad band suggesting a saturation curve. The dose range in which these astrocyte-like profiles becomes maximal corresponds well with the dose range for the X-ray eradication of a subtype of astrocytes, ‘beta astrocytes‘.