ALTOKVDIOGRAPHY OF TISSUE 



^.^•^ 





100 /x 



Fig. 3. Autoradiogram of human skin showing 

 distribution of plutonium and alpha tracks ap- 

 proximately 800 M beneath stratum corneiun. Hema- 

 toxylin and eosin preparation. (Courtesy Acta 

 Radiological) . 



mals which had received 5 mc per day for 

 129 days were exposed for 9 days. The last 

 animal was sacrificed during gestation and 

 had previously suckled its dam for 4 months. 

 The dam had also been receiving 5 mc a day, 

 so that some additional I^^^ was received by 

 the lamb through the milk. 



The autoradiograms were exposed in light- 

 tight boxes containing "Drierite." The slides 

 were warmed to room temperature and de- 

 veloped in D-19 at 18°C for 5 minutes, water 

 rinsed and fixed in x-ray fixer for 30 minutes. 

 They were water- washed and stained with 

 hematoxylin and eosin. Sections that adhere 

 to the emulsion can usually be stained satis- 

 factorily, if the staining procedure is not pro- 

 longed to the point where overstaining of 

 the emulsion is apparent. 



The appearance of the autoradiograms of 

 sheep thyroid tissue from animals adminis- 

 tered 100 /xc intravenously and sacrificed in 

 1 hour, illustrated in Figure 4, shows the 

 grain response to be relatively uniform over 

 both the colloidal areas and the epithelial 

 cells. The colloidal area in animals admin- 

 istered 100 jiQ. and sacrificed in 4 hours is 

 shown in Figure 5. The grain distribution is 

 more pronoimced over many of the col- 

 loidal areas, indicating a variable uptake of 

 P^^ by the colloid in some of the follicles. 

 For animals fed 5 /xc a day for 129 days 

 (Figure 6) there is an even distribution of 

 grains over the colloidal areas in thyroid 

 follicles which are greatly decreased in size 

 from the normal. Areas showing no grain 

 density indicate the edema surrounding the 

 few remnant follicles that are present. The 

 microfollicles register a limited grain den- 

 sity. Little or no interstitial tissue is present. 



Fig. 4. Autoradiogram of hematoxylin and 

 eosin stained sheep thyroid. Animal was adminis- 

 tered 100 /iC of I'^i I.V. and sacrificed in one hour. 

 Limited grain density increase over colloidal area 

 and epithelial cells. 



