Longitudinal metabolic alterations in plasma of rats exposed to low doses of high linear energy transfer radiation

Abstract

Astronauts embarking on deep space missions are at high risk of long-term exposure to low doses of high linear energy transfer (LET) radiation, which can contribute to the development of cancer and multiple degenerative diseases. However, long term effects of exposure to low doses of high LET radiation in plasma metabolite profiles have not been elucidated. We utilized an untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics approach to analyze plasma obtained from adult male Long Evans rats to determine the longitudinal effects of low-dose proton and low-dose oxygen ion whole-body irradiation on metabolic pathways. Our findings reveal that radiation exposure induced modest changes in the metabolic profiles in plasma, 7 months after exposure. Furthermore, we identified some common metabolite dysregulations between protons and oxygen ions, which may indicate a similar mechanism of action for both radiation types.

Keywords:

• Oxygen ion radiation
• proton radiation
• plasma metabolomics
• longitudinal effects of radiation
• high-resolution mass spectrometry

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Dryad Digital Repository at http://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ffbg79csd.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by a grant from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute [RE03701 through NCC 9-58] and NASA [80NSSC17K0425 and 80NSSC19K0437] to Dr. Cheema. The authors would like to acknowledge the Metabolomics Shared Resource in Georgetown University (Washington, DC, USA) which is partially supported by NIH/NCI/CCSG grant P30-CA051008.