AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF Co-60 IRRADIATION ON THE RAT TONGUE TISSUE

방사선 조사가 백서 설조직에 미치는 영향에 관한 실험적 연구

It is known that radiation therapy is a kind of treatment choices of the maxillofacial tumors. This study is designed to investigate the effects of irradiation on rat's tongue tissues as functional tissues which relate to taste, mastication, and pronunciation. 88 rats (Sprague Dawley branch, male) were divided into control group of 4 and experimental group of 84. Experimental group was singly exposed to Co-60 irradiation with 8, 13, 18 Gy in the head and neck region. Animals were sacrificed on 1 hour, 3 hours, 6 hours, 1day, 3 days, 7 days, and 28 days after the irradiation. The specimens were observed by histopathological examination employing H-E stain and Van-Gieson stain. The results were follows; 1. The tongue tissue were severely swollen on the 1 hour after irradiation, but gradually decreased in course of time. 2. The basal cells of epithelium of tongue proliferated at initial stage of irradiation, but gradually decreased. The Keratin layer were gradually increased. 3. The muscles within the tongue were severely degenerated at initial stage of irradiation, but gradually recovered almost normally. 4. The tissue changes after irradiation were gradually increased by the degree of irradiation.