International journal of radiation biology最新文献

{"title":"Variability of radiation doses reconstructed by EPR in teeth of former United States nuclear workers.","authors":"Alexander Romanyukha, Keith Consani, Sergey Y Tolmachev","doi":"10.1080/09553002.2025.2519523","DOIUrl":"10.1080/09553002.2025.2519523","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Our prior results showed that in the most cases, radiation doses measured by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) in tooth enamel samples significantly exceeded worksite reported doses. In an effort to understand causes of this discrepancy, we carried out EPR dose measurements in additional tooth samples collected from individuals studied before.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>Tooth enamel samples from five tissue donors to the United States Transuranium and Uranium Registries were used in this study. EPR measurements were performed using ELEXYS 500 spectrometer and high purity germanium detectors were used to measure gamma-emitting radionuclides.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Significant variation of the EPR measured doses among multiple teeth collected from the same individuals was observed. These variations are potentially due to an additional exposure of the head/neck region as compared to the other parts of the body, e.g. torso where personal dosimeters are typically worn. The latter could explain very significant discrepancy of the doses, derived from EPR measurements and reported by worksites. With gamma-spectroscopy, no ¹³⁷Cs was detected in tooth roots.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In several cases there was nonuniform exposure of the head of the teeth' donors which may explain the discrepancy between worksite reported and EPR reconstructed doses. Results of the gamma counting suggested that exposure from ¹³⁷Cs in the roots was not a factor in the observed discrepancy.</p>","PeriodicalId":94057,"journal":{"name":"International journal of radiation biology","volume":" ","pages":"840-845"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144510087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Transformation of the Chornobyl NPP cooling pond: radioecological situation and its impact on the blood system of small rodents.","authors":"Natalia Riabchenko, Alla Lypska, Natalia Rodionova, Hiroko Ishiniwa, Kenji Nanba, Olena Burdo","doi":"10.1080/09553002.2025.2505529","DOIUrl":"10.1080/09553002.2025.2505529","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>To assess the radioecological consequences of the technogenic transformation of the Chornobyl NPP cooling pond aquatic ecosystem and its impact on the blood system of <i>Myodes glareolus</i>, a typical small rodent species in the Chornobyl exclusion zone.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>Animals were captured in the drained areas of the cooling pond and nearby areas. Radiometric surveys of the animals' natural habitat and soil sampling were conducted. γ-β-spectrometry was used to measure radionuclide levels (¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr) in soil and animal bodies. Absorbed dose rates were calculated. Blood smears, bone marrow and spleen imprints were prepared and stained using the standard Pappenheim method.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Activity of ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr in soil and animal samples, external/internal doses in animals were estimated. Radioecological assessment showed that radionuclide contamination in the drained areas did not exceed that of the adjacent territory. In exposed animals, similar hematopoietic alterations were observed, including disrupted differentiation and maturation of bone marrow cells, particularly in erythroid and granulocytic lineages. However, these blood abnormalities were less pronounced in animals from the drained zones.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Draining the cooling pond, despite the expected high radionuclide concentrations in bottom sediments, did not cause significant changes in surface soil contamination. While bank voles showed deviations in blood parameters compared to reference values, differences between exposure groups were generally not significant. These findings support continued monitoring of radiobiological effects associated with the transforming of radiation-contaminated aquatic ecosystems into terrestrial.</p>","PeriodicalId":94057,"journal":{"name":"International journal of radiation biology","volume":" ","pages":"831-839"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144164357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tooth enamel EPR spectroscopy study of radiation doses for uranium miners in Northern Kazakhstan.","authors":"Kassym Zhumadilov, Alexander Ivannikov, Murat Kassymzhanov, Polat Kazymbet, Meirat Bakhtin, Nazerke Nursultanova, Assel Bagramova, Zhanat Nasilov, Valeriy Stepanenko, Artem Khailov, Masaharu Hoshi","doi":"10.1080/09553002.2025.2609851","DOIUrl":"10.1080/09553002.2025.2609851","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>In order to estimate the effect of radiation exposure on the workers of a uranium enterprise, teeth samples were collected for EPR dosimetry of tooth enamel from workers of uranium mines living in Shantobe settlement (Akmola region, Northern Kazakhstan) and from residents of this settlement who had never worked in the mine as a control.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The accumulated radiation doses in enamel were estimated based on the magnitude of the radiation-induced EPR signal in the samples. Excess (additional) doses were obtained after subtracting the contribution of natural radiation at typical levels during enamel age, and they were interpreted as caused by radiation in the work environment and by radioactive contamination of the territory.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>For the personnel of the uranium mining enterprise (17 teeth samples), the average excess dose was 90 ± 20 mGy (standard uncertainty of the average is indicated here and below). For the rest of the population who did not work at the mine (10 teeth samples), the average excess dose is estimated at 20 ± 12 mGy.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>A higher mean dose and greater variation were observed for miners in comparison to non-mining people in the same settlement. These differences were likely due to the occupational exposure.</p>","PeriodicalId":94057,"journal":{"name":"International journal of radiation biology","volume":" ","pages":"846-853"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145968222","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analysis by ESR of quartz in tephric sedimentary sequence at Kamiyoshida, Rokunohe, Aomori, Japan, indicating temporal variation during 20-100 ka of eolian dust from China.","authors":"Karen Okada, Shin Toyoda, Masashi Takada","doi":"10.1080/09553002.2025.2550429","DOIUrl":"10.1080/09553002.2025.2550429","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The number of oxygen vacancies in quartz measured by electron spin resonance (ESR) as the intensity of the E₁' center has been used to investigate the provenance of the sediments and has been found to be a good proxy in discussing the direction and intensity of the wind system in the past. While its temporal variations have been examined using marine sediments. The present study aimed to show that terrestrial sediments are also useful for such studies on climate change when it is continuous.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>Samples from a continuous tephric loess sequence were examined in the present study. Samples were collected from Kamiyoshida outcrop in Rokunohe Town, Aomori Prefecture, with 5 cm intervals from 110 cm to 420 cm, and a total of 61 samples were analyzed. XRD (X-ray diffraction) analysis was employed to correct the content of quartz in the chemically processed samples.</p><p><strong>Results and conclusions: </strong>Three peaks of the number of oxygen vacancies were observed (15-20, 40-50, and 70-75 ka) for the grain size fractions <2-20, and 20-50 µm. These three peeks look corresponding to the peaks in marine sediments observed in a previous work. During these periods, the amount of eolian dust supplied from the Chinese continent may have been larger, resulting in higher oxygen vacancy values in quartz in both sediments of Sea of Japan and of tephric loess sequence on land. The present results indicate that land sedimentary sequence would be as useful as marine sediments for studying past wind systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":94057,"journal":{"name":"International journal of radiation biology","volume":" ","pages":"922-927"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145024997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Preliminary analysis of the integrated EPR signals of fingernails to validate the dosimetry method based on peak-to-peak amplitudes.","authors":"Hiroshi Yasuda, Samayeh Azariasl, François Trompier","doi":"10.1080/09553002.2025.2561815","DOIUrl":"10.1080/09553002.2025.2561815","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Although the dosimetry technique using fingernails coupled with electron paramagnetic/spin resonance (EPR/ESR) spectroscopy (hereafter called 'fingernail EPR dosimetry') has practical advantages, more efforts to improve its accuracy and reliability are required for application to dose assessment in radiological accidents.</p><p><strong>Purpose: </strong>In fingernail EPR dosimetry, an absorbed dose is determined from the peak-to-peak amplitude of the main peak of the EPR signal spectrum, whereas the measured spectrum is the first derivative of the microwave absorption band. This study aimed to confirm the validity of this approach based on peak deconvolution analysis of the integrated EPR spectra of irradiated fingernails.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Fingernail samples collected from two donors (an 11-year-old child and a 62-year-old adult) were irradiated with X-rays (160 kV, 6.3 mA) at different doses (0, 5, 10, and 20 Gy) and EPR signals were measured using an X-band EPR spectrometer. The measured EPR spectra were integrated and deconvoluted into major components.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The integrated EPR spectra were successfully deconvoluted into three Gaussian peaks with central magnetic field values of 327.42, 327.55, and 327.63 mT. All the peaks of the child fingernails showed linear dose responses. In contrast, the three peaks of the adult fingernails presented notably different dose responses; it was implied that the reduction in radiation sensitivity of the peak-to-peak amplitude was not attributable to the major peak.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The findings presented in this study underscore the importance of examining the behaviors of the overlapping peaks in fingernail EPR spectra on an individual basis to achieve more reliable fingernail EPR dosimetry.</p>","PeriodicalId":94057,"journal":{"name":"International journal of radiation biology","volume":" ","pages":"872-879"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145133206","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Melatonin as a radioprotectant against mitochondrial damage.","authors":"Tsutomu Shimura, Jiayu Wu, Maho Aizawa, Yui Takahashi, Megumi Sasatani, Asako J Nakamura, Akira Ushiyama","doi":"10.1080/09553002.2026.2636299","DOIUrl":"10.1080/09553002.2026.2636299","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Conventional radioprotectants are designed to be administered before radiation exposure, while few have been identified that are effective when administered post-exposure. Irradiation generates intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) that induce mitochondrial damage, causing the release of mitochondrial contents into the cell cytoplasm and ensuing cell death. This mitochondrial damage occurs a few hours after radiation exposure, so mitochondria-targeted radioprotection can be effective when administered post-exposure. Here, we examined the efficacies of the glutathione (GSH) peroxidase activators melatonin and mitoEbselen-2 against radiation-induced mitochondrial damage.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>Human TIG-3 fibroblasts were exposed to ionizing radiation (IR), and cGAS-positive cytosolic DNA was detected by immunostaining with double-strand DNA and cGAS antibodies as an indicator of mitochondrial (mt)DNA leakage. Mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) was also measured using JC-1, while radiation-induced senescence was detected by β-gal staining. Mice were exposed to whole-body irradiation with or without melatonin treatment to assess radioprotective efficacy in vivo.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Radiation exposure induced mitochondrial damage in TIG-3 cells as evidenced by cytosolic mtDNA leakage, Δψm depolarization, and accelerated cellular senescence. Melatonin and mitoEbselen-2 protected against both irradiation-induced and H₂O₂-induced mitochondrial damage, suggesting that these agents act as ROS scavengers. Melatonin also maintained Δψm after irradiation and inhibited cellular senescence. However, prolonged mitoEbselen-2 treatment indicated potential cytotoxicity as shown by Δψm loss. Melatonin mitigated the release of exosome mtDNA into the plasma of mice, as well as radiation-induced damage to blood cells and testicular tissue.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Melatonin can protect against irradiation-induced mitochondrial damage, suggesting utility for mitigating the health effects of accidental radiation exposure.</p>","PeriodicalId":94057,"journal":{"name":"International journal of radiation biology","volume":" ","pages":"476-486"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147346102","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gamma-ray sensitivity and gene expression responses to methyl jasmonate treatment for the radiation breeding of the Hyangcho and KB113LC tobacco cultivars (<i>Nicotiana tabacum</i> L.) at different stages.","authors":"Juyoung Kim, Hong-Il Choi, Tae Hyun Ha, Gamgon Kim, Kwangchul Kim, Sang Hoon Kim","doi":"10.1080/09553002.2026.2637704","DOIUrl":"10.1080/09553002.2026.2637704","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Gamma-ray mutagenesis is a widely used technique in plant breeding, but its efficiency depends on the developmental stage, genotype, and timing of irradiation after pretreatment. The aim of this study was to determine the radiosensitivity of two Korean tobacco cultivars, Hyangcho and KB113LC, across developmental stages and to explore whether methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment can modulate the expression of target gene sets to enhance mutation induction.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>Tobacco seeds (ranging from 0 to 1000 with 100 Gy steps) and plants at the vegetative and reproductive stages (ranging from 0 to 200 with 25 Gy steps) were irradiated with γ-rays, and growth parameter data were collected to determine 50% reduction dose (RD₅₀) values. The non-irradiated control plants at vegetative and reproductive stages were treated with 500 µM MeJA by foliar spraying, and temporal expression of MeJA-responsive and nicotine biosynthesis-related genes was assessed using qRT-PCR over a 0-48 h period.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The RD₅₀ mean values of each parameter varied by cultivar and stage, with Hyangcho (mean 66 Gy) showing greater radiosensitivity than KB113LC (mean 79 Gy) at both the vegetative and reproductive stages but greater resistance at the seed stage (mean 405 vs. 312 Gy, Hyangcho vs. KB113LC). MeJA treatment induced no obvious physiological alterations; however, the expression of early-response genes (e.g., <i>NtJAZ1</i>, <i>NtMYC2a</i>) peaked at 0.5-1 h post-MeJA treatment, while late-response genes (e.g., <i>NtERF189</i>, <i>NtQPT2</i>) peaked at 16-32 h, with <i>NtODC</i> showing particularly strong activation in KB113LC.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The study findings support the introduction of a practical framework for stage- and genotype-specific γ-ray mutagenesis in tobacco, guided by the timing of MeJA-responsive gene activations. Based on the literature, MeJA pretreatment is assumed to potentially increase mutagenesis efficiency; our data define optimal conditions for testing this hypothesis, supporting the development of tobacco mutant populations, including low-nicotine tobacco lines aligned with evolving public health guidelines.</p>","PeriodicalId":94057,"journal":{"name":"International journal of radiation biology","volume":" ","pages":"649-661"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147438798","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Improved gene expression biodosimetry for dose estimation using an expanded panel of radiation-responsive genes.","authors":"Shuang Li, Rui-Xia Zhou, Xue Lu, Hua Zhao, Tian-Jing Cai, Yi-Zhe Gao, Qing-Jie Liu","doi":"10.1080/09553002.2026.2643768","DOIUrl":"10.1080/09553002.2026.2643768","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Gene expression analysis provides a minimally invasive approach for biological dosimetry. To advance point-of-care applications, this study aimed to establish and validate an improved gene expression biodosimetry system by employing an expanded panel of radiation-responsive genes in human peripheral blood.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Human B lymphoblastoid cells (AHH-1) and peripheral blood from 10 healthy donors were irradiated with ⁶⁰Co γ-rays at doses of 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 Gy (dose rate: 1 Gy/min). The expression patterns of four candidate transcriptional biomarkers (<i>ZMAT3</i>, <i>SESN1</i>, <i>AEN</i>, and <i>TRIAP1</i>) and a panel of radiation-responsive genes were characterized at 6-48 h post-irradiation. The impact of different dose rates (0.2, 1, and 2 Gy/min) on these gene expressions was also investigated. For each gene, calibration curves were established by fitting a linear regression between the logarithm of absorbed dose and ΔCt values. Gene selection and model construction were performed using stepwise regression to obtain optimized multi-gene models. The accuracy of these dosimetry models for dose prediction was validated in independent <i>ex vivo</i> and <i>in vivo</i> cohorts.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The four candidate genes exhibited robust, dose-dependent expression from 6 to 48 h post-irradiation, independent of dose-rate variations (0.2-2 Gy/min). Most genes in the expanded panel, including the candidates, showed strong linear relationships between log2 of dose and ΔCt values across all time points when the 0 Gy point was excluded from regression (<i>R</i>² > 0.90, S < 0.50). Based on these validated genes, optimized multi-gene models achieved high predictive accuracy (<i>R</i>² = 0.81-0.89) with fewer genes. Furthermore, these improved models demonstrated accurate dose estimation capabilities when validated with both <i>ex vivo</i>- and <i>in vivo</i>-irradiated peripheral blood samples.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our study expanded the panel of reliable radiation biomarkers and developed optimized multi-gene models for accurate dose estimation, thereby advancing the standardization and practicality of gene expression biodosimetry.</p>","PeriodicalId":94057,"journal":{"name":"International journal of radiation biology","volume":" ","pages":"965-977"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147489068","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing large language models in radiation risk communication: susceptibility, cultural-linguistic effects, and ethical reasoning.","authors":"Christopher West, Yi Wang","doi":"10.1080/09553002.2026.2654427","DOIUrl":"10.1080/09553002.2026.2654427","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>To assess the extent to which large language models (LLMs) amplify or attenuate inaccurate or contested narratives in radiation contexts and to evaluate their potential influence on public risk perception, patient communication in radiotherapy, and radiation protection policy implementation.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>We developed a structured framework to extract agreement and sentiment from LLMs. This was applied to OpenAI's GPT family of models to examine susceptibility to strong or misframed radiological opinions, cultural and linguistic bias on controversial radiological topics, and philosophical or moral alignment in radiation-related scenarios. Additionally, GPT-4o mini was used to analyze sentiment trends in the r/Radiation subreddit (February 2021-December 2023). A novel model, AntiRadiophobeGPT, was created to counter radiophobic and myth-driven narratives and evaluated against real user comments.</p><p><strong>Results and conclusions: </strong>Smaller LLMs (e.g. GPT-4o mini) exhibited significantly higher risk assessment of potentially radiophobic statements than their larger counterparts in general domain radiological risk assessment questions and higher agreement with controversial expert domain questions. Use of Chinese-language prompts or models further increased bias toward culturally sensitive radiological topics. All tested models showed deontological tendencies in moral alignment, with variations across scenarios. Subreddit analysis indicated that health-related myths were most prevalent, but overall community-wide radiophobia and hostility declined over the 3 years. AntiRadiophobeGPT effectively addressed misconceptions with high factual accuracy and demonstrated significantly lower levels of radiophobia and antagonism compared to user-generated responses. These findings underscore the importance of careful LLM deployment in radiological contexts to avoid misinformation propagation and support effective science communication. Overall, this work bridges artificial intelligence and radiation biology by demonstrating how LLM-driven communication can influence radiation risk perception and inform radiological safety practices.</p>","PeriodicalId":94057,"journal":{"name":"International journal of radiation biology","volume":" ","pages":"1081-1097"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147793191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Alterations in the testicular lipidome after tumor irradiation and their potential modulation by long-term losartan treatment.","authors":"Inês Nobre, Pedro Domingues, Helena Beatriz Ferreira, Inês M S Guerra, Marisa Pinho, Tânia Melo, Laura Goracci, Stefano Bonciarelli, Maria Angélica Spadella, Marco G Alves, Agnaldo Bruno Chies, Pedro F Oliveira, Artur Paiva, M Rosário Domingues","doi":"10.1080/09553002.2026.2643760","DOIUrl":"10.1080/09553002.2026.2643760","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Irradiation of the testes can have adverse effects on their structure and function, potentially leading to infertility. Medications that can show antioxidant activity, such as losartan may mitigate the irradiation-related deleterious effects. The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of irradiation on rat testes fatty acid (FA) and lipid profiles, as well as to assess the effectiveness of losartan in mitigating radiation-induced changes over 2-and 60-days.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>Forty-six male Wistar rats were allocated into six groups: control (CTR2 and CTR60), irradiated (IR2 and IR60), and irradiated and treated with losartan (IRLOS2 and IRLOS60), euthanized 2- or 60-days post-irradiation to assess acute and late testicular effects. The FA and lipidome plasticity were evaluated by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and C18-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, respectively.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Groups irradiated after 60-days, without and with losartan, showed a significant decrease in testicular content in FA 16:0, FA 22:6 <i>n</i>-3 and FA 22:5 <i>n</i>-6. Changes in the testicular lipidome, particularly in lipid species belonging to triacylglycerols (TG) and phospholipid classes including phosphatidylcholine (PC), lysophosphatidylcholine (Lyso-PC), phosphatidylserine (PS), and cardiolipin (CL), were observed. TG species were downregulated in irradiated testicular samples, but losartan was able to prevent the downregulation of several TG species containing polyunsaturated fatty acids in testes irradiated after 60-days. After 60-days, several PC lipid species (vinyl-ether or ether-linked), endogenous antioxidants, were significantly increased in testicular tissues exposed to irradiation and losartan. However, the effect was less pronounced in the presence of losartan, suggesting the protective effect of the drug. Conversely, PS, lyso-PC, and CL levels were reduced in irradiated testes after 60-days but losartan could not mitigate those effects.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These lipidomic findings support previous morphological data indicating that losartan helps preserve testicular function, minimizing the effects of radiation.</p>","PeriodicalId":94057,"journal":{"name":"International journal of radiation biology","volume":" ","pages":"978-990"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147489065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}