To clarify the relationship between somatic cell mutations and radiation exposure, the frequency of hemizygous mutant erythrocytes at the glycophorin A (GPA) locus was measured by flow cytometry for 1,226 heterozygous atomic bomb (A-bomb) survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For statistical analysis, both GPA mutant frequency and radiation dose were log-transformed to normalize skewed distributions of these variables. The GPA mutant frequency increased slightly but significantly with age at testing and with the number of cigarettes smoked. Also, mutant frequency was significantly higher in males than in females even with adjustment for smoking and was higher in Hiroshima than in Nagasaki. These characteristics of background GPA mutant frequency are qualitatively similar to those of background solid cancer incidence or mortality obtained from previous epidemiological studies of survivors. An analysis of the mutant frequency dose response using a descriptive model showed that the doubling dose is about 1.20 Sv [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.95-1.56], whereas the minimum dose for detecting a significant increase in mutant frequency is about 0.24 Sv (95% CI: 0.041-0.51). No significant effects of sex, city or age at the time of exposure on the dose response were detected. Interestingly, the doubling dose of the GPA mutant frequency was similar to that of solid cancer incidence in A-bomb survivors. This observation is in line with the hypothesis that radiation-induced somatic cell mutations are the major cause of excess cancer risk after radiation exposure. Furthermore, the dose response was significantly higher in persons previously or subsequently diagnosed with cancer than in cancerfree individuals. This may suggest an earlier onset of cancer due to elevated mutant frequency or a higher radiation sensitivity in the cancer group, although the possibility of dosimetry errors should be considered. The findings obtained in the present study suggest that the GPA mutant frequency may reflect the cancer risk among people exposed to radiation.

A rare T-cell subpopulation, CD4 − 8 − αβ T cells, may be differentiated through a pathway (or pathways) different from the pathway(s) of conventional CD4 + or CD8 + T cells. In the present study, the frequencies of CD4 − 8 − T cells in peripheral-blood αβ T cells in 409 atomic bomb survivors (160 estimated to have been exposed to 1.5 Gy or more and 249 controls) were determined to investigate late effects of radiation on the composition of human T-cell subpopulations. The frequency of CD4 − 8 − αβ T-cell decreased significantly with the subject's age and was higher in females than males. A significant increase in the frequency was found in the survivors exposed to more than 1.5 Gy, suggesting that the previous radiation exposure altered differentiation and development of T cells.

Precursor frequencies of cytotoxic lymphocytes to autologous Epstein-Barr virus-transformed B cells and serum titers of anti-Epstein-Barr virus-related antibodies were measured in 68 atomic bomb survivors to clarify the immune mechanism controlling Epstein-Barr virus infection. The precursor frequency was negatively correlated with the titer of anti-early antigen IgG, which is probably produced at the stage of viral reactivation. A positive correlation between the precursor frequency and titer of anti-Epstein-Barr virus-associated nuclear antigen antibody was also observed, indicating that the precursor frequency reflects the degree of in vivo destruction by T cells of the virus-infected cells. These results suggest that T-cell memory specific to Epstein-Barr virus keeps the virus under control and that the precursor frequency assay is useful for the evaluation of immune responses to Epstein-Barr virus. However, no significant effect of atomic bomb radiation on the precursor frequency was observed in the present study, probably due to the limited number of participants.

The purpose of this study was to determine if exposure to atomic bomb radiation affects immune responsiveness, such as the occurrence of autoantibodies and levels of immunoglobulins. Rheumatoid factor, antinuclear antibody, antithyroglobulin antibody, anti-thyroid-microsomal antibody and immunoglobulin levels (IgG, IgM, IgA and IgE) were measured among 2,061 individuals exposed to atomic bomb radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki whose estimated doses ranged from 0 to 5.6 Gy. The prevalence and titers of rheumatoid factor were found to be increased in the individuals exposed to higher radiation doses. The IgA level in females and the IgM level in both sexes increased as radiation dose increased, although the effects of radiation exposure were not large. No effect of radiation was found on the prevalence of antinuclear antibody, antithyroglobulin antibody and anti-thyroid-microsomal antibody or on the levels of IgG and IgE.

This study was intended to test for a possible early selective loss of relatively radiosensitive individuals from those atomic bomb survivors exposed to high doses using an in vitro X-ray dose-survival assay of peripheral blood lymphocytes. The assay was reasonably reproducible since the coefficient of variation (CV) was 8.2% for the mean $D_{10}$ (the dose required to kill 90% of cells) of 3.39 Gy after 15 repeat tests for one control donor during the study period. The CV for single tests for 201 survivors was essentially the same, i.e., 7.7% with a mean $D_{10}$ of 3.37 Gy, indicating very little heterogeneity of lymphocyte radiosensitivity among individuals. Linear regression analysis of $D_{10}$ on the DS86 dose showed no evidence for the consistent change in average $D_{10}$ values among the survivors exposed to high doses. The results might imply that the G 0 lymphocytes do not express full variations in radiosensitivity and may not be suitable for quantitative measurements of relative radiosensitivity. Alternatively, the very small variation in lymphocyte radiosensitivity may be real and detection of the rare individuals with altered radiosensitivity may require much larger-scale testing. Therefore, no conclusive answer to the question of population bias was provided for the survivors.

Antibody titers to Epstein-Barr virus antigens were determined in the sera of 372 atomic bomb survivors to evaluate the effect of the previous radiation exposure on immune competence against the latent infection of the virus. The proportion of persons with high titers (≥1:40) of IgG antibodies to the early antigen was significantly elevated in the exposed survivors. Furthermore, the distribution of IgM titers against the viral capsid antigen was significantly affected by radiation dose with an increased occurrence of titers of 1:5 and 1:10 in the exposed persons, although the dose effect was only marginally suggestive when persons with rheumatoid factor were eliminated from the analysis. These results suggest that reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus in the latent stage occurs more frequently in the survivors, even though this might not be affected by the radiation dose. Otherwise, there was neither an increased trend in the prevalence of high titers (≥1:640) of IgG antibodies to the viral capsid antigen among the exposed people nor a correlation between the radiation exposure and distributions of titers of IgA antibodies to the viral capsid antigen or antibodies to the anti-Epstein-Barr virus-associated nuclear antigen.

A recently developed dose-survival assay using human G 0 T lymphocytes from peripheral blood was employed to assess possible interindividual variation of cellular radiosensitivity by comparing variability between a single test for different individuals and repeated tests for a single donor. The surviving fraction at each X-ray dose level fluctuated similarly between the two groups, and the X-ray dose required to kill 90% of the cells ( $D_{10}$ ) was 3.59 ± 0.18 Gy (mean ± SD) for 31 different individuals and 3.66 ± 0.21 Gy for 28 repeated tests of one individual. Analysis of variance to compare the two sets of data showed that variation in the $D_{10}$ value was not significantly greater in the former group. Analysis of D 50 and D 90 showed similar results. These results support the hypothesis that interindividual variation in cellular radiosensitivity is quite small, if it exists at all, as far as can be determined by the loss of colony-forming ability of irradiated G 0 lymphocytes.

The recent development of an in vitro lymphocyte colony assay makes it possible to examine variations in the radiosensitivity of humans using peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) instead of the skin fibroblast assay. Our recent study (M. Hakoda et al., Mutat. Res. 197, 161-169, 1988) showed that most of the colonies consisted of lymphocytes bearing CD4 or CD8 antigens. Since the fraction of CD4 + and CD8 + cells in PBL differs among individuals, we suspected that individual radiosensitivity might be biased by the different subset frequencies if the dose-survival curves of the CD4 + and CD8 + cells were different from each other. In the present study, CD4 + (helper/inducer T) and CD8 + (suppressor/cytotoxic T) lymphocytes were isolated from PBL and their dose-survival curves were determined. The results showed that the $D_{10}$ (dose required to reduce the surviving fraction to 10%) was similar for these two types of cells [3.13 ± 0.10 Gy (mean ± SD) for CD4 + , 3.34 ± 0.50 Gy for CD8 + and 3.14 ± 0.17 Gy for the unsorted cells], supporting the use of the whole PBL population for the screening of individuals with altered radiosensitivity.

Dose-survival curves were obtained for matched samples of peripheral T-lymphocytes and skin fibroblasts from a total of 22 patients who underwent various surgical procedures using loss of colony-forming ability as the end point. The results showed that the mean $D_{10}$ (dose required to kill 90% of cells) ± SD was 3.58 ± 0.21 Gy for T-lymphocytes irradiated in G 0 and 3.19 ± 0.37 Gy for skin fibroblasts irradiated in log phase. The coefficients of variation were found to be 6 and 11%, respectively. Contrary to the expectation, regression analysis of $D_{10}$ values for the two types of cells revealed no significant correlations. The absence of correlation most probably derives from the fact that the apparent interindividual variability of dose-survival curves is caused primarily by random experimental fluctuations at least in the case of lymphocytes. Possible reasons for the greater variability observed in the fibroblast assay are discussed.

The responsiveness of peripheral blood lymphocytes to allogenic antigens in mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC) was measured in 139 atomic-bomb survivors. The study revealed a significant decrease in MLC response with increasing dose of previous radiation exposure. This decline was marked in the survivors who were older than 15 at the time of the bomb (ATB). The results suggest a possible relationship between the recovery of T-cell-related function and the thymic function which processes mature T cells for the immune system. Thus it may be that in the advanced age ATB group, the thymus function had started to involute, allowing less recovery of T-cell function compared to young survivors who had adequate processing T-cell activity.

Immune response parameters were studied on 1341 A-bomb survivors residing in Hiroshima, Japan. Mononuclear cells were isolated from venous blood and tested for interleukin-2 production; lymphocytes were purified and tested for natural killer (NK) cell activity and interferon (IFN) production; and serum was tested for IFN and circulating immune complex (CIC) levels. Statistical analyses were performed for each type of assay using a linear models procedure including sex, age at the time of the bomb, radiation exposure, all the interaction variables, and the categorical variable day-of-assay in the model. The findings showed that (1) none of the immunologic variables were significantly affected by radiation exposure; (2) NK activity and CIC levels were positively associated with age; and (3) NK activity was on average higher for males than females. The data exemplify the difficulty in reaching firm conclusions concerning associations with radiation exposure when the dependent variable exhibits a large degree of interindividual and day-of-assay variability.

The percentage of T lymphocytes of atomic bomb survivors showed no change as a function of age or exposure dose. The percentage of T cells was slightly lower in malignant-tumor patients than in the control group, but was significantly higher in the group with chromosomal aberrations than in the control group. The percentages of phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-induced transformation of peripheral lymphocytes decreased significantly with age in the 0 rad control group and the 200+ rad exposure group, particularly so in the latter. The malignant-tumor group also showed lower percentages of PHA-induced transformation than the control group. The percentages of PHA-induced transformation of lymphocytes of the chromosomal-aberration group were significantly depressed as compared with that of the control group.