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Chornobyl catastrophe: cytogenetic effects of low dose ionizing radiation and their modification
Plain-language summary
Paraphrased from the published abstract below — not a verdict on whether anything works.
This study of peripheral blood lymphocytes from healthy human individuals examined cytogenetic effects related to the Chornobyl disaster. It reports concern in the medical and scientific community about excess cancer incidence in the exposed population and describes chromosome aberration accumulation in radiosensitive cells as potentially oncogenic, with low doses of ionizing radiation described as possible promoters of radiation-induced carcinogenesis. The authors report that thymalin, inosine, ascorbic acid, and caffeine modified radiation-induced cytogenetic effects in peripheral blood lymphocytes, with protective or sensitizing actions depending on concentration, cell radiosensitivity, radiation dose, and relative biologic effectiveness. The article is part of a special issue on the Chornobyl accident thirty years after.
Abstract
Among the long-term effects of the Chornobyl disaster the greatest concern of international medical and scientific community is given to the established fact of excess of the spontaneous level of cancer incidence in the exposed population. According to mo-dern concepts, the accumulation of chromosome aberrations, especially in radiosensitive cells, could be potentially oncogenic, and low doses of ionizing radiation could be promoters of the radiation-induced carcinogenesis. The results of our studies have shown that such substances as thymalin, inosine, ascorbic acid, caffeine could modify radiation-induced cytogenetic effects in peripheral blood lymphocytes of healthy individuals and exert protective or sensitizing action dependent on their concentrations, cell radiosensitivity, dose of irradiation, and relative biologic effectiveness of ionizing radiation. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "The Chornobyl Nuclear Accident: Thirty Years After".
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