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The Effect of Helium Ion Radiation on the Material Properties of Bone

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Abstract

Ionizing radiation, from both space and radiation therapy, is known to affect bone health. While there have been studies investigating changes in bone density and microstructure from radiation exposure, the effects of radiation on material properties are unknown. The current study addresses this gap by assessing bone material property changes in rats exposed to helium-4 radiation through spherical micro-indentation. Rats were exposed to a single dose of 0, 5, and 25 cGy whole body helium-4 radiation. Animals were euthanized at 7, 30, 90, or 180-days after exposure. Spherical micro-indentation was performed on axial cross sections of the femur cortical bone to determine instantaneous and relaxed shear moduli. At 90-days after exposure, the 25 cGy exposure caused a significant decline in shear modulus compared to control and 5 cGy groups. The instantaneous modulus decreased 33% and the relaxed modulus decreased 32% as compared to the sham group. This decline was followed by a recovery of both moduli, which was observed by 180-days after exposure; at 180 days, the moduli were no longer statistically different from those at 7 or 30 days. The observed decrease at 90 days, followed by recovery to baseline levels, can be attributed to the biological mechanisms involved in bone formation that were affected by radiation, bone turnover, and systemic changes in hormones due to radiation exposure. Continued assessment of the mechanisms that drive such a response in material properties may enable identification of pathways for therapeutic countermeasures against radiation exposure.

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Data Availability

Data will be made available upon request following the publication of manuscript.

Code Availability

Curve fitting to a 3-time constant maxwell viscoelastic solid model [15, 16] was performed with MATLAB’s built in toolboxes, which are generally available to the public.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Rosalie Connell, Calvin Okulicz, and Gilberto Torres for experimental support. The opinions and assertions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Uniformed Services University or the Department of Defense.

Funding

This work was funded by the College of New Jersey Mentored Undergraduate Summer Experience program, the New Jersey Space Grant Consortium Research Fellowship, and NASA Grant 80NSSC18K1080.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, The College of New Jersey, 2000 Pennington Road, Ewing, NJ, 08628, USA

    Patricia K. Thomas & Anthony G. Lau

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, USA

    Lindsay K. Sullivan

  3. Department of Biology, The College of New Jersey, 2000 Pennington Road, Ewing, NJ, 08628, USA

    Gary H. Dickinson

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5510 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA

    Catherine M. Davis

  5. Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Therapeutics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Rd., Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA

    Catherine M. Davis

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  1. Patricia K. Thomas
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Contributions

PT: Specimen Collection, Conducted Experiments, Collection and Analysis of Data, Statistical Analysis and Interpretation of Data, and Preparation of Manuscript. LS: Formulation of Experimental Protocol, Statistical Analysis and Interpretation of Data, and Preparation of Manuscript. GD: Formulation of Experimental Protocols, Statistical Analysis and Interpretation of Data, and Preparation of Manuscript. CD: Conducted Animal Experiment, Specimen Collection, Analysis and Interpretation of Data, Preparation of Manuscript, Conception of Study, and Co-Principle Investigator. AL: Specimen Collection, Development of Experimental Protocols, Conducted Experiments, Analysis and Interpretation of Data, Preparation of Manuscript, Conception of Study, and Principle Investigator.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Patricia K. Thomas or Anthony G. Lau.

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Conflict of interest

Dr. Dickinson, Dr. Lau, and Dr. Sullivan have nothing to disclose. Dr. Davis reports grants from NASA, during the conduct of the study. Miss Thomas reports grants from New Jersey Space Grant Consortium, during the conduct of the study.

Human and Animal Rights

Laboratory animal care was conducted according to Public Health Service (PHS) Policy on the Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Johns Hopkins University (RA17M78) approved all procedures. Johns Hopkins also maintains accreditation of their program by the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC). Rats radiation exposures were also conducted under approved Animal Protocol at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) (Protocol # 337). No live animal work was performed at The College of New Jersey.

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Thomas, P.K., Sullivan, L.K., Dickinson, G.H. et al. The Effect of Helium Ion Radiation on the Material Properties of Bone. Calcif Tissue Int 108, 808–818 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00223-021-00806-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00223-021-00806-7

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