DNA damage assessment to low dose radiation exposure workers with comet assay

Objective To investigate the status of DNA damages of radiation workers,and to discuss the relationship between different types of work or work time and the level of DNA damage.Methods Workers were divided into control group(100 people) and radiation group(51 people),and the latter was further divided into doctor group at radiation department,cardiologist group and orthopaedic surgeon group based on types of work,and 10 years group,10 years~ group and 20~ years group based on service length.Neutral single cell gel electrophoresis(SCGE) or comet assay(CA) was used to detect the DNA damage of control group and each radiation group.Results DNA damage in radiation group was significantly higher than that in the control group(P 0.001).Furthermore,in radiation group,the damage in cardiologists group was higher than that in the doctors,while the latter was higher than that in orthopaedic surgeon group.In cardiologists group,the damage in 20~36 years group was the highest,10 years group was the lowest.Conclusion Distinguishable differences were shown in DNA damage of peripheral blood lymphocytes in relation to long-term and low-dose radiation exposure.Obvious relationships were found among different work time groups.