Chronic low dose exposure of hospital workers to ionizing radiation leads to increased micronuclei frequency and reduced antioxidants in their peripheral blood lymphocytes

摘要

Purpose: The regular low dose occupational exposure to ionizing radiation may induce deleterious health effects, which may be of particular interest to medical radiation workers who daily handle X-ray machines. Human peripheral blood lymphocytes are able to retain the signature of radiation-induced DNA damage, therefore, the present study was undertaken to investigate the DNA damage and antioxidants status in hospital workers occupationally exposed to low doses of X-rays.Materials and methods: The peripheral blood lymphocytes of the occupationally exposed and control groups matched for age, gender, tobacco usage, and alcohol consumption were cultured and micronuclei frequency was determined. Activities of antioxidant enzymes and lipid peroxidation were also estimated in their plasma.Results: The micronuclei frequency in the occupationally exposed group (n?=?33), increased significantly (p?