Peripheral reticulocyte count as biologic dosimetry of ionizing radiation. Experiments in the mouse.

The flow of reticulocytes in the peripheral blood reflects the bone marrow activity and can be used for evaluation of radiation injury. Using an apparatus capable of microfluorometric quantification of reticulocytes in suspension, the peripheral blood reticulocytes of mice exposed to various doses of ionizing radiation were examined. A dose dependent reticulocytopenia was observed. The advantages of this method in biologic dosimetry over that of evaluating chromosomal aberrations, and its applicability for screening a human populations, are discussed.