# Development of a minimally invasive biomarker assay to detect delayed radiation injury

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIV OF ARKANSAS FOR MED SCIS · 2022 · $100,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The general population continues to be at risk of exposure to ionizing radiation because of nuclear warfare,
terrorism, or radiological accidents. Some countermeasures of the acute radiation syndrome (ARS) have been
placed in the national stockpile, increasing the chance of survival in a radiation emergency. However, individuals
who survive the ARS may develop delayed effects of acute radiation exposure (DEARE) within months to years
after irradiation. Currently, no system is available for the early identification of individuals who are at risk for
DEARE and in which particular organ systems late radiation injuries will occur. Therefore, to personalize the
clinical management of radiation victims, research is required to develop minimally invasive assays that predict
organ-specific DEARE. However, although ~25% of the total population is pediatric, to our knowledge, no
research has been performed in predictive biomarker assays of DEARE in victims who have been exposed at a
young age. The main goal of the NIAID funded grant U01 AI148308 “Development of a minimally invasive
biomarker assay to detect delayed radiation injury” is to develop urine and plasma biomarker assays of radiation
injury to major organ systems at risk. In this parent project, the initial identification of urine and plasma biomarkers
is performed with untargeted high-resolution mass spectrometry-based metabolomics in adult male and female
WAG/RijCmcr rats (11-12 weeks of age) exposed to X-rays (0, 6, 9.5 and 13 Gy) with one hind-leg shielded from
radiation to assure long-term survival of the animals. The purpose of this supplement application is to expand
the scope of the parent grant by identifying early biomarkers of lung, kidney and heart injury in a juvenile rat
model, in which male and female rats are exposed to leg-out X-ray PBI at the age of 41-44 days. We will use the
same rat strain and metabolomics/lipidomics approaches as in the parent U01, which will enable us to make
comparisons of biomarker panels in juvenile and adult rats.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10515695
- **Project number:** 3U01AI148308-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF ARKANSAS FOR MED SCIS
- **Principal Investigator:** Marjan Boerma
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $100,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-02-01 → 2025-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10515695

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10515695, Development of a minimally invasive biomarker assay to detect delayed radiation injury (3U01AI148308-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10515695. Licensed CC0.

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