PURPOSE Characterize the radiation response for transforming growth factor (TGF) alpha shedding in vitro and in vivo. We also report the shedding of TGF alpha by patients undergoing irradiation for hormone-refractory prostate cancer. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN TGF alpha levels were determined by ELISA. DU145 xenografts were established on the flanks of athymic nu/nu mice. Expression of phospho-extra...

Numerous studies have reported on cancers among Mayak Production Association (PA) nuclear workers. Other studies have reported on serious deterministic effects of large radiation doses for the same population. This study relates to deterministic effects (respiratory system dysfunction) in Mayak workers after relatively small chronic radiation doses (alpha plus gamma). Because cigarette smoke is...

BACKGROUND Non-invasive diagnostic tools to evaluate the severity of acute, radiation-induced proctitis are not readily available. The faecal excretion of eight markers of gut inflammation was therefore examined. Five proteins and three lipid derivates were analysed in sequential stool samples taken before and during radiation therapy. METHODS Stool samples from 15 patients with prostate canc...

The risk to non-human biota from exposure to ionizing radiation is of current international interest. In calculating radiation doses to humans, it is common to multiply the absorbed dose by a factor to account for the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of the radiation type. However, there is no international consensus on the appropriate value of such a factor for weighting doses to non-hu...

The complexities of the interactions between long- and short-wave radiation fluxes and the human body make it inherently difficult to estimate precisely the total radiation absorbed (R) by a human in an outdoor environment. The purpose of this project was to assess and compare three methods to estimate the radiation absorbed by a human in an outdoor environment, and to compare the impact of app...

Intradermally injected tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) mimics the effects of UV B light (UVB) radiation and neutralizing anti-TNF-alpha antibodies abolish the deleterious effects of UVB on induction of contact hypersensitivity suggesting that TNF-alpha is the major mediator of UVB effects on cutaneous immunity. In the present study we have shown that in lipopolysaccharide-sensitive inbr...

UV radiation is an important etiologic factor for skin cancer, including melanoma. Constitutive pigmentation and the ability to tan are considered the main photoprotective mechanism against sun-induced carcinogenesis. Pigmentation in the skin is conferred by epidermal melanocytes that synthesize and transfer melanin to keratinocytes. Therefore, insuring the survival and genomic stability of epi...

The study addresses biological effects of low-dose gamma-radiation. Radioactive 137Cs-containing particles were used as model sources of gamma-radiation. Luminous marine bacterium Photobacterium phosphoreum was used as a bioassay with the bioluminescent intensity as the physiological parameter tested. To investigate the sensitivity of the bacteria to the low-dose gamma-radiation exposure (≤250 ...