a Department of Nuclear Medicine , Shandong Qianfoshan Hospital , Jinan , China.
b Key Laboratory of Radiological Protection and Nuclear Emergency, China CDC, National Institute for Radiological Protection, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention , Beijing , China.
Int J Radiat Biol. 2019 Jun;95(6):764-770. doi: 10.1080/09553002.2019.1572250. Epub 2019 Mar 19.
Low dose radiation was found to perturb immune function or inflammatory reactions, which required further study. This study aimed to evaluate the health effects following long-term low dose radiation by detecting levels of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets and serum cytokines of residents living in the Yangjiang High Background Radiation Area (HBRA). Flow cytometry was used to detect peripheral blood T lymphocytes and its subsets (CD4 T, CD8 T lymphocyte) in 100 healthy female residents selected from HBRA and a Control Area (CA), respectively. Thirty cytokines or receptors and CRP levels were measured using antibody arrays in the 40 subjects described above. Subjects were chosen based on an age and BMI match between the two groups. Cytokine expression levels were then verified using ELISA methods. In comparison to CA, CD8 T lymphocyte numbers were significantly increased with cumulative dose following adjustment to age and BMI. Of the 30 selected targets, 22 indexes were measurable and inflammatory cytokines such as IFN-γ, IL-α, MCP-1, sIL-6R, EGFR, and CRP levels were observed to be significantly up-regulated with cumulative doses. ELISA results confirmed the cytokine array results and found CRP, MCP-1, and sIL-6R levels are linear with cumulative dose following adjustment to age and BMI. Immune function was found to be affected in humans exposed to long-term low dose radiation. Specifically, we observed an increase in CD8T lymphocyte numbers and an up-regulation of inflammatory biomarkers, including IFN-γ, MCP-1, sIL-6R, EGFR, CRP.
低剂量辐射被发现会扰乱免疫功能或炎症反应，这需要进一步研究。本研究旨在通过检测居住在阳江高本底辐射区（HBRA）的居民外周血淋巴细胞亚群和血清细胞因子水平，评估长期低剂量辐射的健康影响。采用流式细胞术分别检测 100 名来自 HBRA 和对照区（CA）的健康女性居民的外周血 T 淋巴细胞及其亚群（CD4T、CD8T 淋巴细胞）。采用抗体芯片法检测上述 40 例受试者中 30 种细胞因子或受体和 CRP 水平。根据两组年龄和 BMI 的匹配，选择受试者。然后使用 ELISA 方法验证细胞因子表达水平。与 CA 相比，CD8T 淋巴细胞数量随累积剂量增加而显著增加，且经年龄和 BMI 校正后。在 30 个选定的指标中，有 22 个指标是可测量的，并且观察到 IFN-γ、IL-α、MCP-1、sIL-6R、EGFR 和 CRP 等炎症细胞因子水平随累积剂量显著上调。ELISA 结果证实了细胞因子阵列结果，并发现 CRP、MCP-1 和 sIL-6R 水平在经年龄和 BMI 校正后与累积剂量呈线性关系。
长期低剂量辐射会影响人体的免疫功能。具体来说，我们观察到 CD8T 淋巴细胞数量增加和炎症生物标志物（包括 IFN-γ、MCP-1、sIL-6R、EGFR、CRP）的上调。
