Quantification of DNA damage in patients undergoing non-contrast & contrast enhanced whole body PET/CT investigations using comet assay and micronucleus assay

AbstractObjective: To quantify DNA damage in patients undergoing non-contrast and contrast-enhanced 18F-FDG PET/CT whole body positron emission tomography/computed tomography (WB PET/CT) investigations using comet assay technique & micronucleus assay. To study the effect of other baseline parameters of patients on DNA damage.Methodology: 84 patients referred for 18F-FDG PET/CT investigation were included in the study of which 44 patients underwent contrast-enhanced WB PET/CT and 40 patients underwent non-contrast WB PET/CT investigations. The investigations were performed on Discovery 690 PET/CT. For contrast-enhanced investigation, Omnipaque300 was injected intravenously based on the patient body weight. Absorbed dose resulting from the intravenous administration of 18F-FDG was estimated using the ICRP 106 dose coefficients. Radiation dose from the acquisition of CT scans was estimated using CTDI and DLP. Blood samples were collected from the patients for DNA damage analysis. Comet assay and MN assay was...