Abstract
The effect of partial-body X-irradiation on the goldfish, Carassius auratus, was studied. After anesthetization with MS 222, regions of the head, abdomen or tail of goldfish were exposed to 1 to 16 kR of X-rays from the lateral side. Fish receiving whole-body irradiation served as controls.
Exposures were measured with Radocon and doses absorbed in the body were estimated using fluoro-glass dosimeters inserted in each of three parts of the body whether exposed to, or shielded from, X-rays. Doses absorbed in directly exposed regions (e.g., the abdomen) were around 330 rads and those in the shielded regions (e.g., both the head and the tall) were about 17 rads.
Thirty day-mortality rates increased with increasing integral dose. The commencement of radiation death at about 10 days after partial-body irradiation corresponded with observed histological damage in the intestine and death at around 20 days with damage in the hematopoietic tissues (the head and body kidneys). Skin death due to irradiation occurred considerably later.
From these results it is apparent that mortality rate following partialbody irradiation depends not only on exposure and damage of the directly irradiated part, but also on the dose absorbed in the tissue as a whole.
