Department of Medical Physics, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Radiation Oncology Center, School of Medicine, Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine - DIMES, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Front Public Health. 2021 Nov 8;9:733337. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.733337. eCollection 2021.
Space radiobiology is an interdisciplinary science that examines the biological effects of ionizing radiation on humans involved in aerospace missions. The dose-effect models are one of the relevant topics of space radiobiology. Their knowledge is crucial for optimizing radioprotection strategies (e.g., spaceship and lunar space station-shielding and lunar/Mars village design), the risk assessment of the health hazard related to human space exploration, and reducing damages induced to astronauts from galactic cosmic radiation. Dose-effect relationships describe the observed damages to normal tissues or cancer induction during and after space flights. They are developed for the various dose ranges and radiation qualities characterizing the actual and the forecast space missions [International Space Station (ISS) and solar system exploration]. Based on a Pubmed search including 53 papers reporting the collected dose-effect relationships after space missions or in ground simulations, 7 significant dose-effect relationships (e.g., eye flashes, cataract, central nervous systems, cardiovascular disease, cancer, chromosomal aberrations, and biomarkers) have been identified. For each considered effect, the absorbed dose thresholds and the uncertainties/limitations of the developed relationships are summarized and discussed. The current knowledge on this topic can benefit from further and radiobiological studies, an accurate characterization of the quality of space radiation, and the numerous experimental dose-effects data derived from the experience in the clinical use of ionizing radiation for diagnostic or treatments with doses similar to those foreseen for the future space missions. The growing number of pooled studies could improve the prediction ability of dose-effect relationships for space exposure and reduce their uncertainty level. Novel research in the field is of paramount importance to reduce damages to astronauts from cosmic radiation before Beyond Low Earth Orbit exploration in the next future. The study aims at providing an overview of the published dose-effect relationships and illustrates novel perspectives to inspire future research.
空间辐射生物学是一门跨学科科学，研究在航空航天任务中参与的人类受到电离辐射的生物学效应。剂量效应模型是空间辐射生物学的相关主题之一。其知识对于优化辐射防护策略（例如，飞船和月球空间站屏蔽以及月球/火星村设计）、评估与人类太空探索相关的健康危害风险以及减少来自银河宇宙辐射对宇航员的伤害至关重要。剂量效应关系描述了在太空飞行期间和之后对正常组织或癌症诱导的观察到的损伤。它们是针对实际和预测的太空任务（例如国际空间站（ISS）和太阳系探索）的各种剂量范围和辐射质量开发的。基于包括 53 篇报告太空任务后或地面模拟中收集的剂量效应关系的 Pubmed 搜索，确定了 7 种重要的剂量效应关系（例如，眼闪光、白内障、中枢神经系统、心血管疾病、癌症、染色体畸变和生物标志物）。对于每个考虑的效应，总结并讨论了所开发关系的吸收剂量阈值和不确定性/局限性。进一步和放射生物学研究、对空间辐射质量的准确描述以及从诊断或治疗中类似未来太空任务所预期剂量使用电离辐射的经验中得出的大量实验剂量效应数据可以使该主题的现有知识受益。汇集研究的数量增加可以提高对太空暴露的剂量效应关系的预测能力并降低其不确定性水平。该领域的新研究对于减少未来超越近地轨道探索中宇宙辐射对宇航员的伤害至关重要。该研究旨在提供已发表的剂量效应关系概述，并阐明新的研究视角以激发未来的研究。
