The effect of storage of blood on the yield of X-ray-induced chromosome aberrations and spontaneous sister chromatid exchanges

Abstract

Heparinized whole blood of man and muntjac (Indian barking deer) was stored at 5, 22 and 37^° C for varying durations up to 168 hours and then exposed to 2.0 or 3.0 Gy of X-rays. The yield of dicentrics and other aberrations scored in first post-irradiation metaphases from lymphocytes of both man and muntjac did not vary significantly. However, a marked increase in the proportion of first division metaphases at a given sampling time due to delay in cell cycle progression was noticed in lymphocyte cultures set up from stored blood. There was a relatively higher proportion of first division metaphases in cultures of blood stored at the lower temperature. Also, for both species no significant difference in the frequency of spontaneous SCEs was observed in lymphocyte cultures set up from stored and fresh blood.