Abstract
The effects of ionizing radiation on biological cells have been reported in several literatures. Most of them were mainly concerned with doses greater than 0.01 Gy and were also concerned with gamma rays. On the other hand, the studies on very low dose fast neutrons (VLDFN) are rare. In this study, we have investigated the effects of VLDFN on cell membrane and protein secondary structure of rat erythrocytes. Twelve female Wistar rats were irradiated with neutrons of total dose 0.009 Gy (241Am-Be, 0.2 mGy/h) and twelve others were used as control. Blood samples were taken at the 0, 4th, 8th, and 12th days postirradiation. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of rat erythrocytes were recorded. Second derivative and curve fitting were used to analysis FTIR spectra. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was used to classify group spectra. The second derivative and curve fitting of FTIR spectra revealed that the most significant alterations in the cell membrane and protein secondary structure upon neutron irradiation were detected after 4 days postirradiation. The increase in membrane polarity, phospholipids chain length, packing, and unsaturation were noticed from the corresponding measured FTIR area ratios. This may be due to the membrane lipid peroxidation. The observed band shift in the CH2 stretching bands toward the lower frequencies may be associated with the decrease in membrane fluidity. The curve fitting of the amide I revealed an increase in the percentage area of α-helix opposing a decrease in the β-structure protein secondary structure, which may be attributed to protein denaturation. The results provide detailed insights into the VLDFN effects on erythrocytes. VLDFN can cause an oxidative stress to the irradiated erythrocytes, which appears clearly after 4 days postirradiation.
Highlights
Living cells are exposed to ionizing radiation in many situations and accidents such as natural sources like cosmic rays, nuclear disasters in our world like Chernobyl or Fukushima DaiichiPLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0139854 October 5, 2015Effect of Fast Neutron Very Low Dose on Rat Erythrocytes disaster, occupational works, and medical centers
To split the overlaid bands, second derivatives of the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra were taken into two distinct regions (3500–3040 cm−1) and (3020–2800 cm−1)
From these FTIR spectral markers, the present study concluded that very low dose fast neutrons (VLDFN) (0.009 Gy) could induce oxidative stress and damage to the erythrocytes cell membrane
Summary
Effect of Fast Neutron Very Low Dose on Rat Erythrocytes disaster, occupational works, and medical centers. Most of the advanced medical centers give their patients ionizing radiation for both diagnoses and therapy. The effect of the ionizing radiation on living cell depends on the cell type, the energy and radiation type, the linear energy transferred (LET), the dose, the dose rate, and the time of testing post exposure [1, 2]. Ionizing radiation induces oxidative stress that is implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases [3]. Erythrocyte is highly susceptible to oxidative stress, due to exposure to oxygen flux and their high concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids [4]. Any alteration in its structure is currently viewed as a promising indicator of disease or morbidity [4, 5]
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