Accelerated heavy ions and the lens. IV. Biomicroscopic and cytopathological analyses of the lenses of mice irradiated with 600 MeV/amu 56Fe ions.

The lenses of mice exposed to 600 MeV/amu iron ions were evaluated by slit-lamp biomicroscopy and cytopathological analyses. The doses ranged from 0.05 to 1.6 Gy, and the lenses were assessed at several intervals postirradiation. Cataract, the development of which is dependent on both time and dose, is significantly more advanced in all of the exposed mice when compared to the unirradiated controls. The great difference between the severity of the cataracts caused by 0.05 Gy (the lowest dose used) and those that developed spontaneously in the control animals is an indication that 0.05 Gy may far exceed the threshold dose for the production of cataracts by accelerated iron ions. Cytopathologically, a similar dose dependence was observed for a number of end points including micronucleation, interphase death, and meridional row disorganization. In addition the exposure to the 56Fe ions produced a long-term effect on the mitotic population and a pronounced "focal" loss of epithelial cytoarchitecture. The microscopic changes support the view that the mechanism of heavy-ion-induced cataractogenesis is the same as that for cataracts caused by low-LET radiation.