Pathological characteristics of thyroid glands from Japanese Black Cattle living in the restricted area of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident

Abstract

To study the effect of ionizing radiation on thyroid glands, 66 Japanese Black cattle residing in the restricted area of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2013–2017 were pathologically examined. There were no clinical symptoms of thyroid disease in these cattle. Three cases of goiter and seven of atrophy were found in two among the four farms examined. Cases of goiter exhibited normal morphological structure without mass or nodule formation in thyroid glands. Cellular atypia or capsular invasion of the follicular epithelium was absent. The estimated integrated dose of external radiation in goiter cases ranged from maximum 797 mSv to minimum 24 mSv. All lobules in the seven atrophic thyroid glands were affected, but pathological findings, such as inflammatory cell infiltration or stromal fibrosis, were not observed. The estimated integrated dose of external radiation in atrophic thyroids ranged from maximum 589 mSv to minimum 8 mSv. Immunohistochemical analysis of anti‐nitroguanosine and the TUNEL method in goiter and atrophic thyroid glands did not reveal any positive findings. The present study indicates that there was no significant relationship between a radiation effect and pathological findings in any thyroid glands.

Nutrient Imbalance of the Host Plant for Larvae of the Pale Grass Blue Butterfly May Mediate the Field Effect of Low-Dose Radiation Exposure in Fukushima: Dose-Dependent Changes in the Sodium Content

“…Among them, possible effects on hematological and developmental factors in wild Japanese monkeys [17][18][19] may be of high importance because Japanese monkeys are primates living relatively close to humans in Fukushima. Other studies on mammals such as field mice and cattle showed either the possible effects or null effects of radioactive pollution in Fukushima [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. Among other vertebrates, some birds, such as barn swallows and goshawks, appeared to be affected by radioactive pollution in Fukushima [32][33][34].…”

Tolerance of High Oral Doses of Nonradioactive and Radioactive Caesium Chloride in the Pale Grass Blue Butterfly Zizeeria maha

“…Furthermore, an external exposure experiment of mice using 60 Co as the radiation source failed to detect an effect on the litter size and sex ratio at the exposure levels of the Fukushima nuclear accident [25]. Blood cell counts and thyroid glands have been normal in cattle in the contaminated area [26,27]. Striking morphological abnormalities of the aphids that were detected in the field [3] have been tested experimentally in the laboratory to result in minor physiological changes [28].…”

The effect of exposure on cattle thyroid after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident

“…As previously described 5 , 6 , from 2013 to 2017, we excised and pathologically evaluated the thyroid gland of the exposed cattle in Farm A and B. Among 66 necropsy cases, we found 3 cases with goiter (Fig.…”

“…Sato et al detected 3678 ± 618 or 1874 ± 289 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium (total of 134 Cs and 137 Cs) in Farm A cattle thyroid (dissected in May or December 2014, respectively) 4 . Sasaki et al pathologically diagnosed that, among 66 cattle dissected in 2013–2017, there were 3 cattle with goiter and 7 cattle with atrophic thyroid without malignant findings 5 , 6 . Since there was no correlation between the level of exposure and the pathological changes, we concluded that radiation exposure is not the cause of these diseases.…”