Assessment of DNA damage in somatic and germ cells of animals living with increased radiation background and their offspring

Purpose The aim of this work is to assess DNA damage in the somatic and germ cells in root voles living for a long time under conditions of an increased radiation background and to examine the of manifestation of long-term consequences in their offspring. Materials and methods Using the DNA comet assay (neutral version), we assessed the proportion of cells with DNA damage in the cells of the thyroid, bone marrow and testicular in root voles (Microtus oeconomus Pall.) that lived under conditions of increased radiation background (exposure dose rate - 0.50-20 mu Sv/h; Komi Republic, Russia) and in their offspring (F-1-F-3) that were reproduced in a vivarium with a normal radiation background. Results In animals caught in a radioactively contaminated area, the level of DNA fragmentation in the thyroid gland, bone marrow and testicular remained within the range of values of control animals. The studies that we continued on the offspring of irradiated root voles that were developing in the vivarium under normal radiation background allowed us to identify an increase in the level of DNA DSBs in the thyroid gland in the F-1 generation, in the bone marrow and testicular cells in the F-2 generation. The modifying effect of urethane showed a similarity in the response of somatic cells in voles that lived for a long time in a radioactively contaminated area and in their offspring that developed with a normal radiation background. The effect of urethane was more conspicuous in thyroid cells that, than in bone marrow cells. Conclusion The data obtained on voles from the experimental site indicate adaptation to habitat conditions in a radioactively polluted environment. The provocative effect of urethane made it possible to reveal different response of organs with different proliferative activity. Long-term habitation of voles under conditions of an increased radiation background led to genome instability in their offspring.