The Effects of Medical Diagnostic Low Dose X-rays after in vitro Exposure of Human Red Blood Cells: Hemolysis and Osmotic Fragility

Abstract

© 2019, The Korean Society of Environmental Risk Assessment and Health Science and Springer. Abstract: Although low dose X-rays are widely used in medical radiology, the harmful effects of exposure to low dose X-rays during diagnostic radiological examination is still a commonly discussed topic. Objective: In this current study, we investigated the effects of medical diagnostic low dose X-rays after an in vitro exposure of human red blood cells. Methods: We gave red blood cells an in vitro exposure to a total dose of 0.03, 0.05, and 0.1 mGy of medical diagnostic X-rays. Non-irradiated cells served as the control group. Hemolysis and osmotic fragility tests were used to determine the effects of medical diagnostic low dose X-rays at 10, 30, and 60 min post-irradiation. Results: The results indicated no changes in the percentage of hemolysis and osmotic fragility parameters in red blood cells exposed to these low dose X-rays, when compared to the corresponding non-irradiated red blood cells at all harvest time-points. Conclusion: These finding suggested that there were no harmful effects of the diagnostic low dose X-rays in an in vitro exposure of human red blood cells.