Acute Impacts of Ionizing Radiation Exposure on the Gastrointestinal Tract and Gut Microbiome in Mice

Radiation therapy for abdominopelvic malignancies often results in damage to the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and permanent changes in bowel function. An overlooked component of the pathophysiology of radiation-induced bowel injury is the role of the gut microbiome. The goal of this research was to...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2024-03, Vol.25 (6), p.3339
Main Authors: Jameus, Alexandra, Dougherty, Jessica, Narendrula, Ramya, Levert, Daniela, Valiquette, Manon, Pirkkanen, Jake, Lalonde, Christine, Bonin, Patrice, Gagnon, Jeffrey D, Appanna, Vasu D, Tharmalingam, Sujeenthar, Thome, Christopher
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bacteria - radiation effects
Biomarkers
Cancer therapies
Colon
Digestive system
Disease
Feces
Firmicutes
Gamma rays
Gastrointestinal Microbiome - physiology
Gastrointestinal system
Gastrointestinal Tract - microbiology
Histology
Humans
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Microbiota
Quality of life
Radiation Exposure
Radiation Injuries
Radiation therapy
Radiotherapy
Small intestine
Taxonomy
X-Rays
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Radiation therapy for abdominopelvic malignancies often results in damage to the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and permanent changes in bowel function. An overlooked component of the pathophysiology of radiation-induced bowel injury is the role of the gut microbiome. The goal of this research was to identify the impacts of acute radiation exposure on the GIT and gut microbiome. C57BL/6 mice exposed to whole-body X-rays (0.1-3 Gy) were assessed for histological and microbiome changes 48 h post-radiation exposure. Within the ileum, a dose of 3 Gy significantly decreased crypt depth as well as the number of goblet cells, but increased overall goblet cell size. Overall, radiation altered the microbial distribution within each of the main phyla in a dose- and tissue-dependent manner. Within the Firmicutes phylum, high dose irradiation resulted in significant alterations in bacteria from the class Bacilli within the small bowels, and from the class Clostridia in the large bowels. The 3 Gy radiation also significantly increased the abundance of bacterial families from the Bacteroidetes phylum in the colon and feces. Overall, we identified various alterations in microbiome composition following acute radiation exposure, which could potentially lead to novel biomarkers for tracking patient toxicities or could be used as targets for mitigation strategies against radiation damage.
ISSN:1422-0067
1661-6596
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms25063339