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Infect Immun. 1971 February; 3(2): 254-259
Copyright © 1971 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Radiation, Infection, and Macrophage Function IV. Effect of Radiation on the Proliferative Abilities of Mononuclear Phagocytes in Tuberculous Lesions of Rabbits

Department of Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene, and Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205
Biological Science Laboratory, Fort Detrick, Frederick, Maryland 21701

ABSTRACT

Rabbits were irradiated with 400 to 600 rads 2 to 3 days before they were infected with BCG or with virulent tubercle bacilli. Biopsies were periodically removed from the resulting lesions and incubated for 1 hr with ³H-thymidine in vitro under hyperbaric oxygen. Twelve to 16 days after radiation there was a reduction in the percentage of mononuclear cells (macrophages and some lymphocytes) that had incorporated ³H-thymidine in the lesions. At this time, the lesions of the irradiated group were smaller than those of controls. These results can be explained by the reduction in the number of new mononuclear cells that entered the lesions of the irradiated group and support the tenet that local mononuclear cell division occurs mainly in cells that have recently emigrated from the blood stream. An alternate, but less likely, explanation of these results would be that radiation caused the bone marrow to release a higher percentage of "defective" mononuclear cells that were unable to divide, i.e., incorporate ³H-thymidine, in the lesions. The reduction produced by radiation in both local cell infiltration and local cell division would decrease the number of macrophages available to control the tuberculous infection in the host.