Sci TransL Med: Measuring two miRNA molecules in the blood can be used to assess radiation exposure.

In a new study, researchers at Ohio State University in the United States developed a needle-type blood test to measure radiation levels in mice. !----2020715Science Translational Medicine,"Two-miRNA–based finger-stick assay for estimation of absorbed ionizing radiation dose"。in this paper, they describe the development of this test based on previous work and how effective it worked in laboratory mice.as these researchers have pointed out, accidental or deliberate nuclear explosions remain a threat today, despite a reduction in the arms race between the super-Powers.therefore, research continues on how to treat people affected by such incidents.for obvious reasons, people close to such incidents are more likely to die without medical attention--- but for those who are far enough to survive, their radiation exposure scants need to be measured as soon as possible.current measurement, called dicentric chromosome assay, --- it involves finding DNA damage, which unfortunately can take three or four days to produce results. People whoexposure to dangerous radiation levels need immediate treatment because of damage to their gastrointestinal tract and bone marrow.in the new study, the researchers looked for a new way to give test results faster with the same degree of accuracy.the study builds on the work of the same team in 2013, when they isolated two uncoding RNA molecules that could be useful for treating radiation exposure: miR-150-5p and miR-23a-3p.both molecules are present in the blood and are easy to measure.the researchers found that miR-150-5p was very sensitive to radiation exposure, while miR-23a-3p was insensitive.this prompted them to experiment with these molecules and the mice subjects.in these experiments, the mice were exposed to varying degrees of radiation and then took their blood for testing.the researchers found that by comparing the levels of the two molecules, they were able to easily calculate how much radiation the mice were exposed to, so they could provide immediate treatment.they point out that more tests are needed before similar tests can be conducted on humans.they also point out that such tests could be useful to doctors treating cancer patients who are receiving radiation..