Redox Status, Dose and Antioxidant Intake in Healthcare Workers Occupationally Exposed to Ionizing Radiation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between blood redox status, dose and antioxidant dietary intake of different hospital staff groups exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation (LDIR) (Interventional Radiology and Cardiology, Radiation Oncology, and Nuclear Medicine) and non-exposed. Personal dose equivalent (from last year and cumulative), plasma antioxidant markers (total antioxidant capacity, extracellular superoxide dismutase activity, and glutathione/oxidized glutathione ratio), oxidative stress markers (nitrites and nitrates, and lipid peroxidation) and dietary intake (antioxidant capacity using ORAC values) were collected and analyzed from 28 non-exposed healthcare workers and 42 healthcare workers exposed to LDIR. Hospital staff exposed to LDIR presented a redox imbalance in blood that seems to correlate with dose. Workers from the Nuclear Medicine Unit were the most affected group with the lowest value of plasma antioxidant response and the highest value of plasma thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, TBARS (indicator of lipid peroxidation) of all four groups. Cumulative personal dose equivalent positively correlated with nitrites and negatively correlated with total antioxidant capacity in blood. The diet of healthcare workers from Nuclear Medicine Unit had higher ORAC values than the diet of non-exposed. Therefore, occupational exposure to LDIR, especially for the Nuclear Medicine Unit, seems to produce an imbalanced redox status in blood that would correlate with cumulative personal dose equivalent.

Evaluation of Peroxynitrite and Some Chemical Parameters in Sera of Hospital Cleaning Staffs

“…There is no doubt that the hospital workers whose work in charge of cleaning and waste disposal in the laboratory and other part departments need to extend their knowledge about the risks of the deal with patients and residues of harmful substances such as anticancer drugs. The long periods of working hours in the hospital, exposure to stressful conditions such as occupational stress, and occupational exposure to residues of harmful substances by touching such as anticancer drug causes to excessive production of free radicals (FRs) or reactive species and lead to oxidative stress (OS) that contributes to a number of diseases, including liver damage, cardiovascular abnormalities, and neurodegenerative disorders (Sebastià et al, 2020). FRs are produced in plasma membranes, cytosol, lysosomes, mitochondria, and peroxisomes under pathological and physiological conditions (Salem and Ebrahem, 2018).…”

“…HCY is an important cofactor in several metabolic pathway (Kositsawat et al, 2023). Increased level of HCY is associated with several diseases such as neurological dysfunction (Lauretta et al, 2022), Parkinson's disease (Sampedro et al, 2022), Alzheimer's disease (Song et al, 2023), dementia (Futschek et al, 2023, and thrombotic diseases (Filip et al, 2022).…”