The effect of low doses ionizing radiation on microscopic and morphometric characteristics of tooth germs in fetal rats

Abstract

The aim of the study.To reveal tooth germs structural changes induced by low doses of ionizing radiation in the experiment using light-microscopic examination. Objects and methods. The experiments were carried out on albino rats mongrel gregarious breeding. Gravid female rats were exposed to chronic irradiation on “Gammarid 192/120 unit” at 110 mR/h power of exposition for 18 days at the Institute of Radiobiology of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus. The total dose absorbed by the fetuses was 0.42 Gy. Results and discussion. The experiment showed a significant decrease of proliferative activity of tooth germ cells. It resulted in the decrease in size and in the number of cell layers, shape change up to the appearance of deformed tooth germs. Reducing the intensity of mitotic division also led to the lack of “concentric structures” and cell cushion-shaped thickenings in the enamel epithelium in the experiment. Conclusion. These series of experiments revealed such odontogenesis disorders that cannot be explained only by the decrease of proliferative activity.