Boerma M, Nelson GA, Sridharan V, Mao XW, Koturbash I, Hauer-Jensen M. Space radiation and cardiovascular disease risk. World J Cardiol 2015; 7(12): 882-888 [PMID: 26730293 DOI: 10.4330/wjc.v7.i12.882]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Marjan Boerma, PhD, Division of Radiation Health, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 West Markham, Slot 522-10, Little Rock, AR 72205, United States. mboerma@uams.edu
Research Domain of This Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Cardiol. Dec 26, 2015; 7(12): 882-888 Published online Dec 26, 2015. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v7.i12.882
Space radiation and cardiovascular disease risk
Marjan Boerma, Gregory A Nelson, Vijayalakshmi Sridharan, Xiao-Wen Mao, Igor Koturbash, Martin Hauer-Jensen
Marjan Boerma, Vijayalakshmi Sridharan, Martin Hauer-Jensen, Division of Radiation Health, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, United States
Gregory A Nelson, Xiao-Wen Mao, Department of Basic Sciences, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA 92354, United States
Gregory A Nelson, Xiao-Wen Mao, Department of Radiation Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA 92354, United States
Igor Koturbash, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, United States
Martin Hauer-Jensen, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, Surgical Service, Little Rock, AR 72205, United States
Author contributions: Mao XW and Koturbash I provided research data; Boerma M and Sridharan V wrote the paper; Nelson GA and Hauer-Jensen M provided expert input and edited the paper.
Supported by The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (RE03701) through NCC 9-58; and the National Institutes of Health (CA148679 and P20 GM109005).
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Marjan Boerma, PhD, Division of Radiation Health, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 West Markham, Slot 522-10, Little Rock, AR 72205, United States. mboerma@uams.edu
Telephone: +1-501-6866599 Fax: +1-501-6866057
Received: May 29, 2015 Peer-review started: June 3, 2015 First decision: August 4, 2015 Revised: August 18, 2015 Accepted: October 1, 2015 Article in press: October 8, 2015 Published online: December 26, 2015 Processing time: 209 Days and 6.7 Hours
Abstract
Future long-distance space missions will be associated with significant exposures to ionizing radiation, and the health risks of these radiation exposures during manned missions need to be assessed. Recent Earth-based epidemiological studies in survivors of atomic bombs and after occupational and medical low dose radiation exposures have indicated that the cardiovascular system may be more sensitive to ionizing radiation than was previously thought. This has raised the concern of a cardiovascular disease risk from exposure to space radiation during long-distance space travel. Ground-based studies with animal and cell culture models play an important role in estimating health risks from space radiation exposure. Charged particle space radiation has dense ionization characteristics and may induce unique biological responses, appropriate simulation of the space radiation environment and careful consideration of the choice of the experimental model are critical. Recent studies have addressed cardiovascular effects of space radiation using such models and provided first results that aid in estimating cardiovascular disease risk, and several other studies are ongoing. Moreover, astronauts could potentially be administered pharmacological countermeasures against adverse effects of space radiation, and research is focused on the development of such compounds. Because the cardiovascular response to space radiation has not yet been clearly defined, the identification of potential pharmacological countermeasures against cardiovascular effects is still in its infancy.
Core tip: This review article provides an overview of studies in experimental models that have begun to shed light on the potential risks of damage in heart and blood vessels after exposure to space radiation.
