Abstract
The object of this investigation was to elucidate the serological and immunological manifestations of radiation injury in the continuously and acutely irradiated Spanish goat in order to determine mechanisms of radiation damage. Four groups of male Spanish goats were irradiated continuously for approximately four years at doses of 0, 2, 7 and 15 R/day, and one group was irradiated acutely with a dose of 1200R. Blood samples were collected periodically from all groups during the course of the experiment and from several animals just prior to radiation death. Cellulose acetate electrophoresis of serum proteins and glycoproteins revealed a decreased albumin and an increased beta²-globulin in all irradiated goats that gave overt signs of sickness. Immunoelectrophoresis on agar-gel demonstrated three proteins in the beta² electrophoretic fraction. One arc, designated beta²-M was greatly augmented in all terminal samples, and was, therefore, the source of the increased beta²-globulin electrophoretic fraction. Sephadex G-200 column chromatography and electrophoresis provided data which demonstrated that the beta²-M globulin was a macroglobulin. This protein appeared possibly to have hemoglobin-binding properties when hemoglobin was observed in the macroglobulin peak with column chromatography of terminal sera. Benzidine staining of immunoelectrophoretic patterns substantiated the fact that beta²-M exhibited hemoglobin-binding properties. A relative quantitation of hemoglobin-binding capacities of sera revealed that terminal animals exhibited extremely high hemoglobin-binding capacities, and these increased values correlated directly with increased beta²-globulin electrophoretic values and augmented beta²-M immunoelectrophoretic arcs
Travis, James Carlus (1971). Serum protein and hemoglobin alterations in the gamma-irradiated Spanish goat. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -181345.