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Environmental Radio‐Toxins as Possible Radio‐biomarkers for Diseases of the CNS
Author(s) -
Lykken Glenn I.,
Momcilovic Berislav,
Traudt Jon,
Ward Thomas E.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2019.33.1_supplement.lb14
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , biomarker , central nervous system , environmental chemistry , radon , chemistry , medicine , neuroscience , biology , biochemistry , physics , paleontology , quantum mechanics
A hypothesis is presented identifying environmental radon (EnRn) progeny as a radio‐biomarker of use in studies of the brain and central nervous system (CNS) diseases such as Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's (PD). The long‐lived environmental radon progeny, Pb‐210/Po‐210, in air and soil is a common radio‐biomarker in plants and animals. Hydrocarbon combustion in power plants and internal combustion engines produce copious quantities of ultrafine carbon particles that entrain heavy metals such as Pb‐210 found in air of the combustion process. The UFP's laden with Pb‐210 are readily taken up in the lungs and transported by the blood throughout the body including the brain and CNS. The more numerous small UFP's ( <10nm ) can be transferred across the blood‐brain and cellular barriers into cells where Pb‐210 is permanently deposited. The Pb+2 ions can mimic Ca+2 in brain and CNS cellular action potential systems providing a pathway into the cells and producing deleterious biochemical effects, additionally with radioactive Pb‐210 there are cellular radiation effects. Within the context of the proposed hypothesis data of diseased brain tissues containing Pb‐210/Po‐210 showed selective deposition in the brain proteins in AD and brain lipids in PD, with increased Po‐210 in MS colon tissue Support or Funding Information This abstract is an end result of over 40 years of collaborative studies of environment radon progeny in humans. Collaboration among scientists from academia, government and private industry is noted. The support programs are too numerous to mention, but have been recognized in peer‐reviewed publications associated with the work. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .