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　　Detecting Radiation Exposure with a Blood Test

　　通过血液测试检测辐射情况

　　After a nuclear disaster like the one in Fukushima, Japan, in 2011, first responders need to quickly measure radiation exposure en masse and decide who requires urgent treatment. Existing tests are fast and accurate—but they rely on sophisticated laboratories, expensive machinery and meticulous work, says Dipanjan Chowdhury, a radiation oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “We don’t have copious amounts of radiation drugs available” in such a situation, he adds. “So how do we decide who gets them?”

　　核灾难发生以后，比如2011年的日本福岛发生核泄漏事故，急救人员需要快速地测量周边人员的辐射剂量进而确认谁需要进行紧急治疗。达纳法伯癌症中心放射肿瘤学家Dipanjan Chowdhury介绍说虽然现有的测试手段快速而准确，但其测试往往是基于高精尖端的实验室、昂贵的设备以及细致的工作。“并且在这种情况下，我们并没有足够的治疗辐射的药物，那么我们该如何决定把有限的药物给谁服用呢?”，他补充说道。

　　To address this question, Chowdhury and his colleagues are developing a simple assay that responders could deploy in the field with limited expertise or equipment. The test, described in March in Science Translational Medicine, detects levels of molecules called microRNAs (miRNAs) in blood and other bodily fluids. The same researchers had previously identified certain miRNAs whose levels rise or fall in mice exposed to radiation.

　　为了解决这个问题，乔杜里和他的同事们正在开发一种简单的分析方法，该方法可以让急救人员在有限的专业水平或者设备等级进行相应的部署测试。在三月份的《Science Translational Medicine》期刊上介绍了该方法，该方法通过检测血液和其他体液中微小RNA分子(miRNAs)的含量进而进行相应的评价。同一领域的研究人员先前也在小鼠的身上发现并证实了在辐照下其体内的miRNAs含量出现相应的上升或下降现象。

　　Chowdhury’s team members found that this radiation signature also exists in monkeys (which are the best lab proxies for humans). Their study identifies seven miRNAs that fluctuate in both mice and macaques exposed to radiation. The monkeys were given lethal doses of 5.8, 6.5 or 7.2 grays of whole-body radiation, similar to levels inhaled by Fukushima workers (all the animals received “lethal” doses, but only some resulted in death). Together three of these miRNAs—miR-133b, miR-215 and miR-375—can indicate with 100 percent accuracy whether a macaque has encountered radiation, and two—miR-30a and miR-126—can predict whether the exposure will be fatal. The signature appears within 24 hours of exposure and can be measured using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a common technique. “Based on the ingredients and the complexity, the miRNA test should be significantly cheaper than any existing test,” Chowdhury says.

　　乔杜里的团队成员发现，这种辐射特征也存在于猴子身上(人类最好的临床实验对象)。他们研究发现并确定在老鼠和猕猴身上存在7种受辐射波动的miRNAs。实验人员对猴子分别进行了致死的5.8、6.5、7.5的全身辐射剂量，该剂量等同于当时福岛工作人员的辐射剂量(事实上当时所有的动物均受到了“致死”的辐射剂量，但仅部分死亡)。在这些miRNAS中，miR-133b, miR-215和miR-375三者可100%的准确检测出猕猴是否受到了辐射，miR-30a和miR-126可预测辐射是否致命。这些信号在受到辐射后24h就会显现出来并可以通过聚合酶链反应(PCR，一种常规的技术)来测量。乔杜里说：“基于现有手段的测试成分和试验复杂程度度，miRNA测试应该比现有的任何测试手段便宜得多。”

　　The findings in nonhuman primates are encouraging, says Nicholas Dainiak, director of the Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site at the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, who was not involved in the study. Dainiak is skeptical, however, that the test will outperform the gold standard metric for radiation exposure: the dicentric chromosome assay (DCA), which requires technical expertise and carefully calibrated equipment. “Every time a new test comes along, and you compare it with the DCA, it typically fails,” Dainiak says.

　　“在非人类的灵长类动物领域，该研究发现是令人鼓舞的”，橡树岭科学与教育研究所辐射的急救援助中心/培训基地主任Nicholas Dainiak这样说道，他并没有参与这项研究。然而，对于该种测试方法能否优于辐射测试的黄金标准度量，也即需要较高技术水平及精心校准设备的双着丝粒染色体分析(DCA)技术，Dainiak仍然持怀疑态度。“每一种新测试方法的出现，都会与DCA方法进行比较，但往往结果失败，”Dainiak说。

　　Chowdhury has held informal talks with companies that are interested in creating a rapid diagnostic kit for radiation. “When we did this in mice, people said, ’We’ve seen a lot of stuff in mice that never pans out in primates,’” Chowdhury says. “Well, this seems to be panning out in primates.”

　　乔杜里与有意创建辐射快速诊断试剂的公司进行了非正式的会谈。乔杜里说，“当我们在老鼠身上做试验时，人们说我们在老鼠身上得到的大部分资料根本就不会在灵长类动物身上应验’”。“好吧，但这次的试验结果似乎在灵长类动物中也得到了证实。”