TY - GEN
T1 - A hypothesis on biological protection from space radiation through the use of new therapeutic gases
AU - Schoenfeld, Michael P.
AU - Ansari, Rafat R.
AU - Nakao, Atsunori
AU - Wink, David
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2011 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Radiation exposure to astronauts could be a significant obstacle for long duration manned space exploration because of current uncertainties regarding the extent of biological effects. Furthermore, concepts for protective shielding also pose a technically challenging issue due to the nature of cosmic radiation and current mass and power constraints with modern exploration technology. The concern regarding exposure to cosmic radiation is the biological damage it induces. As damage is associated with increased oxidative stress, it is important and would be enabling to mitigate and/or prevent oxidative stress prior to the development of clinical symptoms and disease. This paper hypothesizes a "systems biology" approach in which a combination of chemical and biological mitigation techniques are used conjunctively. It proposes using new, therapeutic, medical gases as both chemical radioprotectors for radical scavenging and biological signaling molecules for management of the body's response to exposure. From reviewing radiochemistry of water, biological effects of CO, H2, NO, and H2S gas, and mechanisms of radiation biology, it is concluded that this approach may have great therapeutic potential for radiation exposure. Furthermore, it also appears to have similar potential for curtailing the pathogenesis of other diseases in which oxidative stress has been implicated including cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic inflammatory disease, hypertension, ischemia/reperfusion injury, acute respiratory distress syndrome, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, cataracts, and aging.
AB - Radiation exposure to astronauts could be a significant obstacle for long duration manned space exploration because of current uncertainties regarding the extent of biological effects. Furthermore, concepts for protective shielding also pose a technically challenging issue due to the nature of cosmic radiation and current mass and power constraints with modern exploration technology. The concern regarding exposure to cosmic radiation is the biological damage it induces. As damage is associated with increased oxidative stress, it is important and would be enabling to mitigate and/or prevent oxidative stress prior to the development of clinical symptoms and disease. This paper hypothesizes a "systems biology" approach in which a combination of chemical and biological mitigation techniques are used conjunctively. It proposes using new, therapeutic, medical gases as both chemical radioprotectors for radical scavenging and biological signaling molecules for management of the body's response to exposure. From reviewing radiochemistry of water, biological effects of CO, H2, NO, and H2S gas, and mechanisms of radiation biology, it is concluded that this approach may have great therapeutic potential for radiation exposure. Furthermore, it also appears to have similar potential for curtailing the pathogenesis of other diseases in which oxidative stress has been implicated including cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic inflammatory disease, hypertension, ischemia/reperfusion injury, acute respiratory distress syndrome, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, cataracts, and aging.
KW - Applied electrochemistry
KW - Oxidative stress
KW - Radiation shielding
KW - Radiochemistry
KW - Radiolysis
KW - Reactive oxygen species
KW - Space radiation
KW - Therapeutic medical gas
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M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:79960884282
SN - 9781617828461
T3 - Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space 2011, NETS-2011
SP - 186
EP - 198
BT - Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space 2011, NETS-2011
T2 - Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space 2011, NETS-2011
Y2 - 7 February 2011 through 10 February 2011
ER -