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Ionizing Radiation and Human Health: Reviewing Models of Exposure and Mechanisms of Cellular Damage. An Epigenetic Perspective

We reviewed available evidence in medical literature concerning experimental models of exposure to ionizing radiations (IR) and their mechanisms of producing damages on living organisms. The traditional model is based on the theory of “stochastic breakage” of one or both strands of the DNA double he...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Burgio, Ernesto, Piscitelli, Prisco, Migliore, Lucia
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6163535/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30201914
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15091971
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author Burgio, Ernesto
Piscitelli, Prisco
Migliore, Lucia
author_facet Burgio, Ernesto
Piscitelli, Prisco
Migliore, Lucia
author_sort Burgio, Ernesto
collection PubMed
description We reviewed available evidence in medical literature concerning experimental models of exposure to ionizing radiations (IR) and their mechanisms of producing damages on living organisms. The traditional model is based on the theory of “stochastic breakage” of one or both strands of the DNA double helix. According to this model, high doses may cause the breaks, potentially lethal to the cell by damaging both DNA strands, while low doses of IR would cause essentially single strands breaks, easily repairable, resulting in no permanent damages. The available evidence makes this classical model increasingly less acceptable, because the exposure to low doses of IR seems to have carcinogenic effects, even after years or decades, both in the exposed individuals and in subsequent generations. In addition, the cells that survived the exposure to low doses, despite being apparently normal, accumulate damages that become evident in their progeny, such as nonclonal chromosomal aberrations, which can be found even in cells not directly irradiated due to the exchange of molecular signals and complex tissue reactions involving neighboring or distant cells. For all these reasons, a paradigm shift is needed, based on evidence and epigenetics.
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spelling pubmed-61635352018-10-12 Ionizing Radiation and Human Health: Reviewing Models of Exposure and Mechanisms of Cellular Damage. An Epigenetic Perspective Burgio, Ernesto Piscitelli, Prisco Migliore, Lucia Int J Environ Res Public Health Review We reviewed available evidence in medical literature concerning experimental models of exposure to ionizing radiations (IR) and their mechanisms of producing damages on living organisms. The traditional model is based on the theory of “stochastic breakage” of one or both strands of the DNA double helix. According to this model, high doses may cause the breaks, potentially lethal to the cell by damaging both DNA strands, while low doses of IR would cause essentially single strands breaks, easily repairable, resulting in no permanent damages. The available evidence makes this classical model increasingly less acceptable, because the exposure to low doses of IR seems to have carcinogenic effects, even after years or decades, both in the exposed individuals and in subsequent generations. In addition, the cells that survived the exposure to low doses, despite being apparently normal, accumulate damages that become evident in their progeny, such as nonclonal chromosomal aberrations, which can be found even in cells not directly irradiated due to the exchange of molecular signals and complex tissue reactions involving neighboring or distant cells. For all these reasons, a paradigm shift is needed, based on evidence and epigenetics. MDPI 2018-09-10 2018-09 /pmc/articles/PMC6163535/ /pubmed/30201914 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15091971 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Burgio, Ernesto
Piscitelli, Prisco
Migliore, Lucia
Ionizing Radiation and Human Health: Reviewing Models of Exposure and Mechanisms of Cellular Damage. An Epigenetic Perspective
title Ionizing Radiation and Human Health: Reviewing Models of Exposure and Mechanisms of Cellular Damage. An Epigenetic Perspective
title_full Ionizing Radiation and Human Health: Reviewing Models of Exposure and Mechanisms of Cellular Damage. An Epigenetic Perspective
title_fullStr Ionizing Radiation and Human Health: Reviewing Models of Exposure and Mechanisms of Cellular Damage. An Epigenetic Perspective
title_full_unstemmed Ionizing Radiation and Human Health: Reviewing Models of Exposure and Mechanisms of Cellular Damage. An Epigenetic Perspective
title_short Ionizing Radiation and Human Health: Reviewing Models of Exposure and Mechanisms of Cellular Damage. An Epigenetic Perspective
title_sort ionizing radiation and human health: reviewing models of exposure and mechanisms of cellular damage. an epigenetic perspective
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6163535/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30201914
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15091971
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