Preconceptional Paternal Exposure to Embedded Depleted Uranium Fragments: Transmission of Genetic Damage to Offspring
Abstract
The Persian Gulf War resulted in friendly fire casualties among U.S. personnel injured by fragments of depleted uranium (DU) munitions. The demonstrated effectiveness of such weapons makes it likely that they may be used against U.S. forces in future conflicts. Uncertainty about how aggressively to remove fragments of the radioactive, chemically toxic DU has stimulated research into the long-term health consequences of embedded DU fragments. There has been no previous research to determine whether long-term exposure to embedded DU can affect the health of offspring of personnel wounded by DU. This study investigated whether male mice carrying embedded fragments of DU or WA transmitted genetic damage to their offspring. We hypothesized that long-term chronic exposure to embedded DU or WA would result in paternal transmission of genetic damage to unexposed F1 generation offspring, characterized by increased frequency of in vivo mutations in tissues. The data demonstrated that DU and WA can induce genomic instability in unexposed offspring. The findings also show that DU and WA are mutagenic to chronically exposed rodents. DU and WA can cause direct DNA damage to sperm in these chronically exposed rodents.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA463156
Entities
People
- Alexandra C. Miller
Organizations
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine