The effect of storage of blood on the yield of X-ray-induced chromosome aberrations and spontaneous sister chromatid exchanges.

Heparinized whole blood of man and muntjac (Indian barking deer) was stored at 5, 22 and 37 degrees C for varying durations up to 168 hours and then exposed to 2.0 or 3.0 Gy of X-rays. The yield of dicentrics and other aberrations scored in first post-irradiation metaphases from lymphocytes of both man and muntjac did not vary significantly. However, a marked increase in the proportion of first division metaphases at a given sampling time due to delay in cell cycle progression was noticed in lymphocyte cultures set up from stored blood. There was a relatively higher proportion of first division metaphases in cultures of blood stored at the frequency of spontaneous SCEs was observed in lymphocyte cultures set up from stored and fresh blood.