LBL-17. A Physiological Study in the Peruvian Andes Using Iron-59
The Donner Laboratory of Medical Physics, University of California, Berkeley used iron-59 (Fe-59) in
high-altitude studies similar to the previously conducted studies using tritium (H-3). The purpose of
these experiments was to investigate the physiology of reduced barometric pressure, particularly as
seen in high-altitude flights, and the physiology and treatment of various hematopoietic
(blood-forming) disorders, especially polycythemia rubra vera, leukemia, and aplastic anemia.
In these studies, reported in 1952, healthy subjects (medical students from the University of San
Marcos, Lima, Peru) and native Peruvians in the Andes mountains were studied. Four Andean
natives suffering from pulmonary silicosis (as well as high-altitude polycythemia rubra vera) were
also studied.
A few micrograms of Fe-59 were incubated for 20 minutes with 10 to 20 milliliters of the subject s
plasma and then injected into the subjects. After injection, Fe-59 analysis was made on plasma
samples taken at hourly intervals for 4 to 5 hours. Acclimatization to high altitude was found to be
related to changes in blood volume, plasma volume, and red blood-cell mass. Postexposure
plasma-iron turnover rates and red cell renewal rates increased to roughly twice their normal values
in less than 12 hours at high altitude. This study was supported by the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force,
and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. (Included in The DOE Roadmap of February 1995)
References
Lawrence, J.H., R.L. Huff, W. Siri, L.R. Wasserman, and T.G. Hennessy. A Physiological Study in
the Peruvian Andes. Acta Medica Scandinavica. Vol. 142, No. 2, 1952, pp.117 133.
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Human Radiation Experiments Associated with the U.S. Department
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