ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Evaluation of anti-radiation efficacy of the Staphylococcus aureus-derived therapeutic agent
1 Federal Center for Toxicological, Radiation, and Biological Safety, Kazan, Russia
2 Kazan Federal University, Kazan, Russia
3 Russian Medical Academy of Continuing Professional Education of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
4 Kazan State Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kazan, Russia
5 Republican Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan, Russia
6 Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan, Russia
Correspondence should be addressed: Timur R. Gaynutdinov
Nauchnyj Gorodok, 2, Kazan, 420075, Russia; ur.liam@rumit_rtg
Funding: the study was conducted the expense of the subsidy granted to the Federal Center for Toxicological, Radiation, and Biological Safety for research work, state registration No. 01200202604.
Acknowledgements: the study was performed within the framework of the Strategic Academic Leadership Program of the Kazan Federal University (PRIORITY-2030).
Author contribution: Gaynutdinov TR — literature review on the issue, conducting the experimental part of the study, processing of the data acquired, text editing, manuscript preparation; Ryzhkin SA — academic advising; Shavaliev RF — advisory assistance during the experimental part of the study, text editing; Vagin KN, Kurbangaleev YaM, Ohrimenko SE — advisory assistance during the study; Kalimullin FH — assistance and conducting the experimental part of the study; Plotnikova EM, Idrisov AM, Mayorova EN — conducting the experiments, statistical data processing.
Compliance with ethical standards: all the procedures involving model animals were conducted in accordance with the Good Laboratory Practice and the Directive 2010/63/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (2010) on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes.
The study is relevant due to the fact that the decrease in microbial toxicity observed during the radio-inactivation of microorganisms is accompanied by synthesis of radioprotective substances and exertion of the radioprotective effects associated with administration of such microbial agents to exposed animals. The study was aimed to assess radioprotective efficacy of the exposed Staphylococcus aureus variants. The study showed that the Staphylococcus aureus culture treated with a single dose of gamma radiation (30–40 kGy) ensured protection of 55–66% of the lethally irradiated animals. Multiple exposures of the test microorganism to the gradually increasing doses of gamma radiation induced an even larger increase in radioresistance resulting from the synthesis of endogenic radioprotectors, particularly peroxidase, the antioxidant enzyme, and IL1β cytokine, ensuring interception of the radiation-induced toxic radicals and thereby preventing postexposure pancytopenia in the bone marrow. The experiments involving white mice exposed to the absolutely lethal gamma radiation doses (7.9 Gy, LD100/30) showed that a single subcutaneous administration of the St. aureus radioresistant variant (strain 209R70) in a dose of 2 × 108 bacterial cells per animal 3 days after the exposure ensured the 77.7% survival rate, while 100% of untreated animals died. Based on the findings it was concluded that inclusion of the exposed agents of microbial origin would make it possible to increase the efficacy of the combination radioprotectors.
Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus, gamma rays, radio inactivation, radio modification, laboratory animals, anti-radiation effectiveness