Influence of anticoagulants and storage temperatures on blood counts and mitotic index of blood samples collected for cytogenetic biodosimetry.

Purpose: In order to establish suitable protocols of blood culture to obtain sufficient numbers of metaphases for dicentric chromosome assay (DCA), we have examined the effect of storage temperature, storage time, and anticoagulant type.

Materials And Methods: Peripheral blood was collected from five healthy donors with lithium heparin and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid dipotassium salt (EDTA-2K). These samples were irradiated with X-rays at 3 Gy or sham; the samples were further divided into groups that were either stored at room temperature (RT) or 5.