Impact of inflammatory signaling on radiation biodosimetry: mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease

Ionizing Radiation (IR) is a known pro-inflammatory agent and in the process of development of biomarkers for radiation biodosimetry, a chronic inflammatory disease condition could act as a confounding factor. Hence, it is important to develop radiation signatures that can distinguish between IR-induced inflammatory responses and pre-existing disease. In this study, we compared the gene expression response of a genetically modified mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease (Il10 ) with that of a normal wild-type mouse to potentially develop transcriptomics-based biodosimetry markers that can predict radiation exposure in individuals regardless of pre-existing inflammatory condition. Wild-type (WT) and Il10 mice were exposed to whole body irradiation of 7 Gy X-rays. Gene expression responses were studied using high throughput whole genome microarrays in peripheral blood 24 h post-irradiation. Analysis resulted in identification of 1962 and 1844 genes differentially expressed (p