Cytogenetic biodosimetry using the blood lymphocytes of astronauts

Abstract

Cytogenetic analysis of peripheral blood lymphocytes is the most sensitive and reliable method currently available for in vivo assessment of the biological effects of exposure to radiation and provides the most informative measurement of radiation induced health risks. Data indicates that space missions of a few months or more can induce measureable increases in the yield of chromosome damage in the blood lymphocytes of astronauts that can be used to estimate an organ dose equivalent, and biodosimetry estimates lie within the range expected from physical dosimetry. Space biodosimetry poses some unique challenges compared to terrestrial biological assessments of radiation exposures, but data provides a direct measurement of space radiation damage, which takes into account individual radiosensitivity in the presence of confounding factors such as microgravity and other stress conditions. Moreover if chromosome damage persists in the blood for many years, results can be used for retrospective dose reconstruction. In contrast to physical measurements, which are external to body and require multiple devices to detect all radiation types all of which have poor sensitivity to neutrons, biodosimetry is internal and includes the effects of shielding provided by the body itself plus chromosome damage shows excellent sensitivity to protons, heavy ions, and neutrons. In addition, chromosome damage is reflective of cancer risk and biodosimetry values can therefore be used to validate and develop risk assessment models that can be used to characterize health risk incurred by crewmembers. The current paper presents a review of astronaut biodosimetry data, along with recently derived data on the relative cancer risk estimated using the quantitative approach derived from the European Study Group on Cytogenetic Biomarkers and Health database.