Precision of scoring radiation-induced chromosomal aberrations and micronuclei by unexperienced scorers

Purpose: Dose assessment plays an important role in case of radiological accidents and can be performed by scoring structural changes of chromosome morphology induced in cells by ionizing radiation. The results of such a test are biased by scorer experience, therefore, simple to learn assays are recommended to be used when fast analysis of a large amount of data is needed. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of two radiobiological assays – chromosomal aberrations and micronuclei – by unexperienced scorers with the reference values generated by an expert.

Materials and methods: Each participant of an EU-funded two-week radiobiology course was asked to score Chinese hamster ovary cells exposed to gamma radiation up to 4 Gy. The congruence of students’ and expert’s scores at each dose and the coherence of the dose-response curve parameters between the students were investigated.

Results: Micronucleus test tended to be faster and easier to learn than scoring chromosomal aberrations. However, both assays carried out by inexperienced students showed reasonable dose-response curves.

Conclusions: In the case of a large radiological accident involving many casualties, the unexperienced scorers would support the process of biodosimetric triage by cytogenetic biological dosimetry.