Objective: Long-term low-dose ionizing radiation may alter genomes and cause diseases. This study examined serum exosomal miRNA differences among radiation-exposed medical workers by work types. Methods: High-throughput sequencing screened serum exosomal miRNAs in diagnostic radiologists, interventional radiologists, and nuclear medicine doctors. qRT-PCR validated differentially expressed miRNAs. Results: 410 differentially expressed miRNAs, including 102 downregulated and 308 upregulated miRNAs, enriched in 15 KEGG pathways. Four miRNAs were validated. miR-30e-5p, miR-155-5p and miR-486-5p differed significantly among groups(P<0.01).The expression levels of these three miRNAs were lower in the nuclear medicine group than in the diagnostic group (0.25±0.05vs3.89±8.62,0.10±0.15vs7.03±15.75,0.37±0.39vs4.46±9.64;Z=3.542,3.335,9.859;P<0.01), whereas miR-155-5p was lower in the interventional group than in the diagnostic group(1.32±2.43vs 7.03±15.75;H=11.889,P=0.003), miR-486-5p was higher(9.54±19.39vs4.46±9.64; H=9.859,P=0.007). All four miRNAs showed higher expression in the 14-31-year work-experience group, and all four also showed age-dependent differences, with miR-30d-5p and miR-486-5p showing the age-related differences (P<0.01). Combined detection of the four miRNAs improved discrimination among occupational categories (AUC=0.784). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that sex was associated with all four miRNAs, whereas work type was associated with miR-30d-5p and miR-155-5p (P<0.05). Conclusion: Serum exosomal miR-30e-5p, miR-155-5p, and miR-486-5p are promising biomarkers for monitoring radiation-induced damage, supporting occupational protection and health management.

Astrocytes are significantly activated after peripheral nerve injury (PNI) and affect the nerve repair by mediating neuroinflammation. DJ-1 is highly expressed in astrocytes, and its binding compounds exert significant neuroprotective effects by regulating antioxidant and anti-inflammatory responses. This study is designed to investigate the therapeutic effects of DJ-1-binding compound P-DJ-1A in a rat PNI model induced by spared nerve injury (SNI) surgery. The results revealed that SNI surgery induced the aggregation of activated astrocytes and the phosphorylated form of STAT3 in the ipsilateral dorsal spinal horn (DSH), which was concentrated mainly in the projection area of the injured nerve. Moreover, SNI surgery led to the extensive induction of proinflammatory and neurotoxic mediators, including IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-18, and C3, while reducing the expression of TGF-β, IL-10, and S100A10. Treatment with P-DJ-1A or AG490 alleviated mechanical hyperalgesia and thermal hyperalgesia induced by SNI surgery, reduced "A1" astrocyte activation, and inhibited the expression of proinflammatory cytokines but increased the levels of TGF-β, IL-10, and S100A10. Mechanistically, P-DJ-1A or AG490 inhibited STAT3 activation and the NF-κB/NLRP3/IL-18 pathway. Collectively, the DJ-1-binding compound P-DJ-1A can alleviate SNI-induced injury by modulating neurotoxic astrocyte activation and inhibiting neuroinflammation, highlighting its potential as a novel therapeutic strategy.

The application of nuclear technology in energy, healthcare, and aerospace sectors is increasingly widespread, causing radiation protection to be an important topic for public health and biomedical research. Ionizing radiation causes harm by damaging cells directly or indirectly. Traditional radiation protection adopts physical barriers and pharmacological methods, which have proved to be effective but have certain limitations. The Mediterranean diet, fasting or calorie restriction, ketogenic diet, plant-based diet, and high-fiber diet are common and reliable dietary patterns. Dietary patterns contribute to regulating key molecular pathways including oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, metabolism, and gut microbiota. Enhancing the body's resistance to radiation damage through dietary intervention represents a highly promising nutritional strategy. Understanding the mechanisms and research behind dietary interventions for radiation protection facilitates the integration of radiation protection into daily life, enabling the development of personalized, precision-based dietary intervention strategies. This review focuses exclusively on research evidence and mechanism analysis to assess the impact of dietary intervention on ionizing radiation protection and look forward to their potential and challenges for clinical radiotherapy support and radiation protection for special occupational groups.

Because the existence of linear no-threshold (LNT) hypothesis in the low-dose region has not been confirmed, we previously proposed the "hormesis-coupled LNT theory." Because this theory does not consider the effect of dose-rate, we applied our theory to different dose-rates using data from the previous reference (Yoshida et al. 2008). As a result, we calculated that the biological benefit via radiation can be observed at a dose-rate of <1 mGy/h. In the future, biologically beneficial factors may be identified by exploring the exposure region with cumulative doses of >350 mGy at this low-dose-rates.