Patent ID: 6132981
Filing Date: 2000-10-17
Classification: C07K,C12Q,G01N,Y10S,Y10T

Abstract:
A method for detecting a human's prior exposure to radiation or radiomimetic agents comprising:providing a sample of red blood cells from a human, wherein the red blood cells have a quantity of a transferrin receptor;detecting the quantity of said transferrin receptor on the red blood cells of the sample; andcorrelating the quantity of the transferrin receptor on the red blood cells to the human's prior exposure to radiation or radiomimetic agents, wherein said correlating comprises:determining a level of the red blood cells in the sample having a quantity of the transferrin receptor in excess of a pre-selected quantity; andcorrelating the level of the red blood cells in the sample having the quantity of transferrin receptor in excess of the pre-selected quantity to a radiation exposure dose by a curve which is determined by equations I and II, equation I being represented byy=3.56+2.31 (log x),for doses between 0.1 and 150 cGy, and equation II being represented byy=8.54-3.27.times.10.sup.-3 (x)+3.78.times.10.sup.-5 (x).sup.2,for doses between 150-600 cGy, where:y is a comparative increase in the level of red blood cells in the sample having the quantity of transferrin receptor in excess of the pre-selected quantity, andx is the dose.