Effects of Prenatal Irradiation with an Accelerated Heavy-Ion Beam on Postnatal Development in Rats: I. Neurophysiological Alterations

Abstract Wang, B., Murakami, M., Eguchi-Kasai, K., Nojima, K., Shang, Y., Tanaka K., Fujita, K., Coffigny, H. and Hayata, I. Effects of Prenatal Irradiation with an Accelerated Heavy-Ion Beam on Postnatal Development in Rats: I. Neurophysiological Alterations. Radiat. Res. 164, 561–566 (2005). Effects on postnatal neurophysiological development in offspring were studied after exposure of pregnant Wistar rats to accelerated carbon-ion beams with an LET of about 13 keV/ μm at doses ranging from 0.1 Gy to 2.5 Gy on the 15th day of gestation. The age at which four physiological markers appeared and five reflexes were acquired was examined prior to weaning. Gain in body weight was monitored until the offspring were 3 months old. Male offspring were evaluated as young adults using two behavioral tests. The effects of X rays estimated for the same biological end points were studied for comparison. For most of the end points at early age, no significant alterations were observed in offspring that received prenata...