The first in vivo multiparametric comparison of different radiation exposure biomarkers in human blood

PLoS One. 2018 Feb 23;13(2):e0193412. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193412. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

The increasing risk of acute large-scale radiological/nuclear exposures of population underlines the necessity of developing new, rapid and high throughput biodosimetric tools for estimation of received dose and initial triage. We aimed to compare the induction and persistence of different radiation exposure biomarkers in human peripheral blood in vivo. Blood samples of patients with indicated radiotherapy (RT) undergoing partial body irradiation (PBI) were obtained soon before the first treatment and then after 24 h, 48 h, and 5 weeks; i.e. after 1, 2, and 25 fractionated RT procedures. We collected circulating peripheral blood from ten patients with tumor of endometrium (1.8 Gy per fraction) and eight patients with tumor of head and neck (2.0-2.121 Gy per fraction). Incidence of dicentrics and micronuclei was monitored as well as determination of apoptosis and the transcription level of selected radiation-responsive genes. Since mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been reported to be a potential indicator of radiation damage in vitro, we also assessed mtDNA content and deletions by novel multiplex quantitative PCR. Cytogenetic data confirmed linear dose-dependent increase in dicentrics (p < 0.01) and micronuclei (p < 0.001) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells after PBI. Significant up-regulations of five previously identified transcriptional biomarkers of radiation exposure (PHPT1, CCNG1, CDKN1A, GADD45, and SESN1) were also found (p < 0.01). No statistical change in mtDNA deletion levels was detected; however, our data indicate that the total mtDNA content decreased with increasing number of RT fractions. Interestingly, the number of micronuclei appears to correlate with late radiation toxicity (r2 = 0.9025) in endometrial patients suggesting the possibility of predicting the severity of RT-related toxicity by monitoring this parameter. Overall, these data represent, to our best knowledge, the first study providing a multiparametric comparison of radiation biomarkers in human blood in vivo, which have potential for improving biological dosimetry.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Biomarkers / blood
  • Chromosome Aberrations
  • DNA, Mitochondrial / radiation effects
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation
  • Endometrial Neoplasms / blood
  • Endometrial Neoplasms / radiotherapy
  • Female
  • Head and Neck Neoplasms / blood
  • Head and Neck Neoplasms / radiotherapy
  • Humans
  • Leukocytes / pathology
  • Leukocytes / radiation effects*
  • Male
  • Micronuclei, Chromosome-Defective
  • Middle Aged
  • Radiation Exposure*
  • Radiometry / methods*
  • Radiotherapy / adverse effects
  • Radiotherapy Dosage
  • Transcription, Genetic / radiation effects

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • DNA, Mitochondrial

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (Centre for Minimally Invasive radiation Biodosimetry, sub-award no: GC006900-34) (EC), Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic (long-term organization development plan Medical Aspects of Weapons of Mass Destruction of the Faculty of Military Health Sciences, University of Defence), Ministry of Interior Affairs of the Czech Republic (project VH20172020010) (AT), the Radiation Theme of the Newcastle University and Public Health of England, Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) (CB). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.