Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2011 Jul 6;16(4):123-30.
doi: 10.1016/j.rpor.2011.06.001.

Radiobiology of the acute radiation syndrome

Miquel Macià I Garau  1 , Anna Lucas Calduch  2 , Enric Casanovas López  3
Affiliations
Review

Radiobiology of the acute radiation syndrome

Miquel Macià I Garau et al. Rep Pract Oncol Radiother. .

Abstract

ACUTE RADIATION SYNDROME OR ACUTE RADIATION SICKNESS IS CLASSICALLY SUBDIVIDED INTO THREE SUBSYNDROMES: the hematopoietic, gastrointestinal and neurovascular syndrome but many other tissues can be damaged. The time course and severity of clinical signs and symptoms are a function of the overall body volume irradiated, the inhomogeneity of dose exposure, the particle type, the absorbed dose and the dose rate. Classical pathophysiology explain the failure of each of these organs and the timing of appearance of their signs and symptoms due to radiation-induced cytocidal effects of a great number of parenchymal cells of hierarchically organized tissues. Contemporaneously, many other radiation-induced effects has been described and all of them may lead to tissue injury with their corresponding signs and symptoms that can be expressed after short or long period of time. Radiation-induced multi-organ involvement is thought to be due to radiation-induced systemic inflammatory response mediated by released pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Keywords: Acute radiation syndrome; Gastrointestinal syndrome; Hematopoietic syndrome; Neurovascular syndrome; Radiation-induced multi-organ failure; Radiation-induced multi-organ involvement; Radiobiology.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
(a) Hierarchical model of tissue organization. (b) Response of hierarchical model of tissue organization in front of a cell depletion caused by injury.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
(a) Flexible model of tissue organization. (b) Response of flexible model of tissue organization in front of a cell depletion caused by injury.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Graph showing the dose-independence of onset of signs and symptoms and the dose-dependence of their severity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. De-Coursey E. Human pathological anatomy of ionizing radiation effects of the atomic bomb explosions. Mil Surg. 1948;102:427–432. - PubMed
    1. Denham J.W., Hauer-Jensen M., Peters L.J. Is it time for a new formalism to categorize normal tissue radiation injury? Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2001;50:1105–1106. - PubMed
    1. Gourmelon P., Benderitter M., Bertho J.M. European consensus on the medical management of acute radiation syndrome and analysis of the radiation accidents in Belgium and Senegal. Health Phys. 2010;98:825–832. - PubMed
    1. International Atomic Energy Agency . IAEA; Vienna: 1998. Diagnosis and treatment of radiation injuries. Safety reports series 2.
    1. Pedigo T. Mosby/Jems; 2005. Radiological weapons in Currance PL. Medical response to weapons of mass destruction.

LinkOut - more resources