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Abstract
Purpose
The threat of population exposure to ionizing radiation is increasing rapidly worldwide. Such exposure, especially at high-dose, is known to cause acute radiation syndrome (ARS). Hence, it is necessary to develop specific and sensitive biomarkers to accurately diagnose radiation injury and evaluate medical countermeasures.
Materials and methods
Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), a model organism with a fine and sound olfactory system, was used to examine the odor of urine samples collected from irradiation-injured rats, and compared with those from un-irradiated control rats to investigate the ‘special odor’ of radiation injury. Subsequently, headspace SPME-GC-MS was applied for non-targeted metabolomic analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in urine, with the aim to discover changes of small molecule metabolites and identify odor biomarkers of irradiation injury.
Results
C. elegans showed significant attraction to the urine of total body irradiation (TBI) rats compared with control rats, indicating that irradiation injury can emit ‘special odor’ and the metabolites in urine VOCs were changed. Using metabolomics based on headspace SPME-GC-MS for metabolic profiles analysis, we screened 63 differentially expressed metabolites. Among them, 10 metabolites including p-Cresol with excellent diagnostic ability were identified as odor biomarkers according to receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.
Conclusions
This study confirmed the ‘special odor’ induced by irradiation injury, and identified biomarkers through urine VOCs analysis for the first time, which can provide a novel approach and insight to evaluate irradiation injury noninvasively, accurately and conveniently.
Disclosure statement
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Xin Wu
Xin Wu, She is a Research Associate in the department of radiation injury treatment, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College. Her research field is biomarkers and biodosimetry of radiation.
Tong Zhu
Tong Zhu, She is a Research Associate in the department of radiation injury treatment, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College. Her research field is C. elegans and biological effects of radiation.
Hongbing Zhang
Hongbing Zhang, He is Associate Senior Researcher in Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research. His research fields are biomarkers, Q-markers and biological effects of traditional Chinese medicine.
Lu Lu
Lu Lu, She is Associate Senior Researcher in the department of radiation injury treatment, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College. Her research field is biological effects of radiation.
Xin He
Xin He, She is Associate Senior Researcher in the department of radiation injury treatment, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College. Her research field is biological effects of radiation.
Changxiao Liu
Changxiao Liu, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering. His research fields are pharmacokinetics and metabonomics.
Sai-jun Fan
Sai-jun Fan, He is a professor of Radiobiology, Deputy Director General of Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College. His research fields are biological effects of radiation and radiation biodosimetry.