Effects of Total Body X-Irradiation and Plutonium Injection on the Cholinesterase of Erythrocytes and Brain

¹ From the Health Division, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, University of California, Los Alamos, New Mexico

Both total body x-irradiation (25–300 r) and injected plutonium (0.63 µc Pu⁺⁶) produce an increase in the cholinesterase activity of erythrocytes of mice on the 4th day. In mice receiving 300 r, high values were found on the 3rd–5th days. Subsequently there was a sharp fall in this titer to values far below normal at the end of the 1st week. During the 2nd week recovery began and was apparently complete by the end of the 3rd week. The reticulocyte count was significantly depressed during the 1st week, and there was a small but significant reticulocytosis during the 3rd. In the plutonium-injected mice, the same early peak was observed and the same fall to values well below normal. There was no recovery during 63 days of observation. Data are presented for the 4th day following doses of x-rays from 15–300 r. From 25 r upwards there is a significant increase in the mean cholinesterase titer. There appears to be a relationship between the proportion of high individual titers and the dose, and the highest individual values were observed at 300 r. Data are presented on a large series of control mice, and these are shown to conform well to the normal distribution as evaluated by k-statistics.

Note:
with the technical assistance of Helen M. Miller and Dorothy J. Nickolai