Cell and Tissue Damage After Skin Exposure to Ionizing Radiation: Short- and Long-Term Effects After Single and Fractional Doses
January 2014
in “
Cells Tissues Organs
”
TLDR Ionizing radiation causes irreversible skin damage, with single doses leading to acute injury and hair graying, and fractional doses causing more severe long-term tissue damage.
The 2014 study on the effects of ionizing radiation on mouse skin found that both single and fractional doses of 10 Gy caused irreversible damage, but with different outcomes. A single 10 Gy dose resulted in severe acute skin injury and permanent hair graying due to melanocyte stem cell damage, while fractional doses of 5 Gy caused long-term dermal and subcutaneous atrophy and reduced capillary density, suggesting more severe damage to tissue stem cells and endothelial cells. The study indicated that fractional radiation might lead to greater long-term tissue damage than a single dose, with implications for the impact of radiation exposure on skin health.
