Single drop of blood could help rapidly detect radiation sickness

Date:
July 15, 2020
Source:
Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Summary:
A new proof-of-concept study reports evidence that a new
testing method has the potential to rapidly identify radiation
sickness based on biomarkers measured through a single drop of
blood. Scientists say the test could help save lives through early
and real-time identification of the condition to enable timely
clinical interventions.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A new proof-of-concept study reports evidence that a new testing method
has the potential to rapidly identify radiation sickness based on
biomarkers measured through a single drop of blood. Scientists at The
Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center -- Arthur G. James
Cancer Hospital and Richard J.

Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC -- James) say the test could help
save lives through early and real-time identification of the condition
to enable timely clinical interventions.


========================================================================== Radiation sickness, or acute radiation syndrome (ARS), is a condition
caused by irradiation of major volume or the entire body by a high dose
of penetrating radiation in a very short time period -- usually a matter
of minutes.

Historically, this has been most relevant through accidental exposures
or mass casualty radiologic events, like the ones witnessed in Hiroshima
and Nagasaki during World War II or even a reactor accident such as the
one at Chernobyl in 1986.

The condition can rapidly weaken a person through its side effects and
lead to death without intervention. The current diagnostic test NOT-
a dicentric chromosome assay -- requires three to four days to get
results. ARS most often impacts the bone marrow and gastrointestinal
systems early while the debilitating effects on pulmonary, cardiovascular
and central nervous systems can be delayed. Death can occur in a matter
of days for the most severe cases, but most patients die within several
months of exposure. Rapid identification of exposure levels is critical
for responding and triaging patient treatments.

"This new test uses a single drop of blood -- collected from a simple
finger prick -- and results are ready in a few hours. It is rapid,
scalable and can serve as a point-of-care-type diagnostic tool for
real-time evaluation to screen a large number of individuals in a short
time," says Naduparambil K.

Jacob, PhD, an associate professor and scientist in the OSUCCC -- James Translational Research Program.

For this test, researchers compare the relative expression of two small molecules called microRNAs in the blood. The first is microRNA-150 NOT-
which Jacob's lab identified several years ago as a biomarker to measure
the extent of bone marrow damage. This microRNA decreases as a function
of radiation dose while the normalizer, called microRNA-23a, does not
change. Comparing these two molecular measures allows scientists to
quantify the actual radiation dose absorbed, and therefore the overall
exposure risk.

"We measure ionizing radiation in grays. People who are exposed to
two gray need to be identified and treated and it is predicted that if
you are exposed to about four gray to the whole body, without timely
treatment there is a 50 percent chance of survival," says Jacob.

He noted this tool would have critical relevance in responding to mass
casualty disaster scenario like that Chernobyl, to identify at-risk
military personnel and civilians who need immediate treatment. It also
has relevance for cancer patients, especially bone marrow transplant
patients and others who have intense radiation therapy, where overdosing
as well as underdosing is of concern.

"Some patients develop major issues like thrombocytopenia and neutropenia
as the result of radiation treatment. We can't look at a patient and
determine how much radiation he or she has absorbed -- but the impact
can be cumulative. As a result, radiation sickness could occur weeks or
months after the radiation therapy," explains Jacob. "With additional
research, this new testing method could potentially help oncologists
measure -- in real time -- absorbed radiation and intervene before
radiation sickness occurs." Jacob and his colleagues report their
findings in the medical journal Science Translational Medicine on July 15.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Ohio_State_University_Wexner_Medical_Center. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Marshleen Yadav, Sagar Bhayana, Joseph Liu, Lanchun Lu, Jason
Huang, Ya
Ma, Zahida Qamri, Xiaokui Mo, Diviya S. Jacob, Shashaank
T. Parasa, Noureen Bhuiya, Paolo Fadda, Meng Xu-Welliver,
Arnab Chakravarti, Naduparambil K. Jacob. Two-miRNA-based
finger-stick assay for estimation of absorbed ionizing radiation
dose. Science Translational Medicine, 2020; 12 (552): eaaw5831 DOI:
10.1126/scitranslmed.aaw5831 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200715154246.htm

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