Abstract
The development of new laser-driven electron linear accelerators, providing unique ultrashort pulsed electron beams (UPEBs) with low repetition rates, opens new opportunities for radiotherapy and new fronts for radiobiological research in general. Considering the growing interest in the application of UPEBs in radiation biology and medicine, the aim of this study was to reveal the changes in immune system in response to low-energy laser-driven UPEB whole-body irradiation in rodents. Forty male albino Wistar rats were exposed to laser-driven UPEB irradiation, after which different immunological parameters were studied on the 1st, 3rd, 7th, 14th, and 28th day after irradiation. According to the results, this type of irradiation induces alterations in the rat immune system, particularly by increasing the production of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and elevating the DNA damage rate. Moreover, such an immune response reaches its maximal levels on the third day after laser-driven UPEB whole-body irradiation, showing partial recovery on subsequent days with a total recovery on the 28th day. The results of this study provide valuable insight into the effect of laser-driven UPEB whole-body irradiation on the immune system of the animals and support further animal experiments on the role of this novel type of irradiation.
Highlights
This study could be used as a basis for future, more detailed investigations of the molecular and cellular mechanisms of these reactions, as well as for the assessment of the effect/efficiency of different radioprotective agents on the immune system of the animals
The studies of the biological effect of laser-driven ultrashort pulsed electron beams (UPEBs) whole-body irradiation showed that this type of irradiation induces alterations in the rat immune system, by increasing the production of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and elevating the DNA damage rate
Such an immune response reaches its maximal levels on the third day after laser-driven UPEB whole-body irradiation, showing partial recovery on subsequent days with the total recovery on the 28th day
Summary
It was shown that very-high-energy electron beams allow higher radiation doses to be delivered in deep tissue, thereby providing potential clinical benefits for targeting deep tumors and improving the tumor-to-healthy-tissue ratio by delivering a higher radiation dose to the tumor versus normal tissues [10,11]. These features allow this new modality to be considered in future long-term biomedical studies as a new, promising, more effective, and less harmful radiotherapeutic approach for cancer treatment
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