A Comparison of the Radiation Response of the Epidermis in Two Strains of Pig

• Published in: Radiation research 1990-12, Vol.124 (3), p.283-287
• Main Authors: G. J. M. J. van den Aardweg, Arnold, M., Hopewell, J. W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 560152 - Radiation Effects on Animals- Animals; Air; ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES; Anesthesia; ANESTHETICS; Anesthetics - pharmacology; ANIMAL TISSUES; ANIMALS; BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; Beta Particles; BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; Biological and medical sciences; BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS; Biological effects of radiation; BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS; BIOLOGICAL VARIABILITY; BODY; Breathing; CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM DEPRESSANTS; DOMESTIC ANIMALS; Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS; DOSES; DRUGS; EPIDERMIS; Epidermis - radiation effects; EPITHELIUM; EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; GENETIC VARIABILITY; INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI; Ionizing radiations; Irradiation; ISOTOPES; MAMMALS; NUCLEI; ORGANS; Oxygen; Radiation dosage; RADIATION DOSES; RADIATION EFFECTS; Radiation Injuries, Experimental - genetics; Radiation Injuries, Experimental - pathology; Radiation tolerance; RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT; RADIOISOTOPES; RADIOSENSITIVITY EFFECTS; SKIN; Species Specificity; STRONTIUM 90; STRONTIUM ISOTOPES; SWINE; TISSUES; Tissues, organs and organisms biophysics; VERTEBRATES; YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
• ISSN: 0033-7587; 1938-5404
• DOI: 10.2307/3577840

The response of the epidermis was compared in two strains of pig, the English Large White and the Göttinger Miniature, after irradiation with 90 Sr β rays. The effects of two types of anesthesia were also tested in pigs of each strain, a volatile gas mixture of ∼70% oxygen, ∼30% nitrous oxide, and 2% halothane, and an intravenously administered narcotic azaperon/etimodat with the animals breathing air. Strain- and anesthetic-related changes were compared on the basis of dose-effect curves for the incidence of moist desquamation from which ED50 values (±SE) were determined, i.e., the dose required to produce this effect in 50% of the fields irradiated. For English Large White pigs anesthetized with the volatile gas mixture, an ED50 of 27.32 ± 0.52 Gy was obtained for moist desquamation. Irradiation with the azaperon/etomidat anesthesia in this strain of pig produced a significantly higher ED50 of 33.36 ± 0.76 Gy (P < 0.001). This appeared to be related to the fact that the animals were breathing air, i.e., a lower oxygen concentration (∼21%), at the time of irradiation. For the Göttinger Miniature pig the ED50 values for moist desquamation were 38.93 ± 3.12 Gy and 43.36 ± 1.34 Gy while using the gaseous anesthetic mixture and the azaperon/etomidat anesthesia with the animals breathing air, respectively. These ED50 values are 10-11 Gy higher than those obtained for the English Large White pig under identical conditions of anesthesia, which resulted in a strain difference ratio of ∼1.35. Radiation under the volatile gas mixture anesthesia resulted in a uniform irradiation response over the skin of the flank in both strains of pig. Radiation under azaperon/etomidat anesthesia resulted in a nonuniform skin response over the flank. The ED50 for moist desquamation was significantly higher in dorsal sites on the flank compared with the ventral area of English Large White pigs; a similar trend was seen in Göttinger Miniature pigs. This difference in the radiosensitivity over the flank skin while the animals are under azaperon/etomidat anesthesia at the time of irradiation was associated with the animals breathing air and is in agreement with findings published previously for animals under halothane anesthesia and breathing air.