Internal Contamination (USUHS)
Abstract
Radioactive material can enter the body by a variety of pathways including ingestion, inhalation, and wound contamination. While some internalized isotopes will be naturally eliminated from the body, many others are not. They remain immobile or are transported and deposited to other organs where they continually irradiate the surrounding tissue. This chronic internal radiation exposure can cause unrepairable cellular damage eventually leading to death. This Program uses innovative approaches to address this pressing health concern. FY 2018 Plans: Continue cytotoxicity testing of surrogate-templated molecularly imprinted polymers for extraction of radionuclide contaminants; begin assessment of extracorporeal decorporation techniques to determine blood purification and chelation efficiencies of the polymers in a laboratory rat model. Design feasibility study to assess potential of chemically-modified dendrimeric structures as radionuclide decorporation agents and to optimize the efficiency of the designed polymers as decorporation agents. Continue assessment of dendrimeric structures for further optimization as a promising radionuclide decorporation agent in regard to desired properties such as specificity, binding strength and lower cytotoxicity. Initiate a study to determine if non-toxic plant-based metal chelators can be effectively used as radionuclide decorporation agents for the treatment of internal radionuclide contamination. FY 2018 Accomplishments: -Molecularly imprinted polymers prepared using ternary and silica-based protocols, with zinc as the surrogate template, were able to bind cobalt from simulated serum and intestinal fluids. -Molecularly imprinted polymers prepared using silica-based protocols, with copper as the surrogate template, were able to bind uranium from simulated serum and intestinal fluids. -Molecularly imprinted polymers prepared using europium as a surrogate template for strontium and rubidium as a surrogate template for cesium were unable to bind the appropriate metals. -No metal binding was observed in simulated gastric fluid because of the pH-sensitive nature of the metal: polymer interaction. -Molecularly imprinted polymer preparations demonstrated low cytotoxicity and did not result in the hemolysis of isolated rat red blood cells.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2020
- Source ID
- 5d0b29ab094b0a111465dc5f28de79d7