Biochemical observations relating to oxidant stress injury in Chernobyl clean-up workers (“liquidators”) from Latvia

Šķesters, Andrejs; Zvagule, Tija; Silova, Alise; Rusakova, Ņina; Larmane, Liga; Reste, Jeļena; Eglīte, M.; Rainsford, K. D.; Callingham, B. A.; Baķe, Mārīte Ārija; Lece, Anna

doi:10.1007/s10787-009-0020-1

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Some authors, however, have found in humans that the levels of some antioxidants can even increase at low doses of radiation, although high levels of radiation may deplete antioxidants (Ivanenko & Burlakova ), and a recovery of oxidative status can be produced over time (Skesters et al . ). Indeed, the high degree of radioactive contamination found in the region of Chernobyl and the relative long time (28 years) elapsed since the accident make this an excellent scenario for investigating possible mechanisms of adaptation to ionizing radiation in natural populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…This is potentially plausible given the observed positive effect of low‐dose radiation on some antioxidants (Ivanenko & Burlakova ), the recovery in the antioxidant status a long time after exposure (Skesters et al . ), and the fact that many organisms in the Chernobyl region have been chronically exposed to low doses of radiation, conditions that may favour radio‐adaption (Tapio & Jacob ). Searching for adaptive responses to radiation in natural populations is of key importance as it can potentially determine the capacity of species to evolve physiological adaptations and thus differential susceptibilities to overcome environmental challenges such as those that occurred in Chernobyl and Fukushima (Somero ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chronic exposure to low‐dose radiation atChernobyl favours adaptation to oxidative stress in birds

et al. 2014

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Summary 1.Ionizing radiation produces oxidative stress, but organisms can adapt to their exposure with physiological adaptive responses. However, the role of radioadaptive responses in wild populations remains poorly known. 2. At Chernobyl, studies of birds and other taxa including humans show that chronic exposure to radiation depletes antioxidants and increases oxidative damage. Here, we present analyses of levels of the most important intracellular antioxidant (i.e. glutathione, GSH), its redox status, DNA damage and body condition in 16 species of birds exposed to radiation at Chernobyl. We use an approach that allows considering the individual bird as the sampling unit while controlling for phylogenetic effects, thus increasing the statistical power by avoiding the use of species means as done for most previous comparative studies. 3. As a consequence, we found a pattern radically different from previous studies in wild populations, showing that GSH levels and body condition increased, and oxidative stress and DNA damage decreased, with increasing background radiation. Thus, when several species are considered, the overall pattern indicates that birds are not negatively affected by chronic exposure to radiation and may even obtain beneficial hormetic effects following an adaptive response. Analysis of the phylogenetic signal supports the existence of adaptation in the studied traits, particularly in GSH levels and DNA damage. 4. We also show that, under equal levels of radiation, the birds that produce larger amounts of the pigment pheomelanin and lower amounts of eumelanin pay a cost in terms of decreased GSH levels, increased oxidative stress and DNA damage, and poorer body condition. Radiation, however, diminished another potential cost of pheomelanin, namely its tendency to produce free radicals when exposed to radiation, because it induced a change towards the production of less pro-oxidant forms of pheomelanin with higher benzothiazole-to-benzothiazine ratios, which may have facilitated the acclimation of birds to radiation exposure. 5. Our findings represent the first evidence of adaptation to ionizing radiation in wild animals, and confirm that pheomelanin synthesis represents an evolutionary constraint under stressful environmental conditions because it requires GSH consumption.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%