The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is soliciting input from the radiation biology and microbiome research communities regarding the state of the science of the interplay between radiation exposure and the microbiome.
The effort seeks to further the understanding of the impact of radiation on the known microbiome niches in the human body (e.g., skin, oral mucosa, gastrointestinal tract, lungs), microbiome signatures that may predict susceptibility or resilience to radiation injury, and/or microbiota-based or microbiota-targeted radiation medical countermeasures (MCMs).
NIAID, of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will use the information obtained in response to this RFI to develop recommendations for future programs to support research and development of effective and safe radiation MCMs or identification of biomarkers and biodosimetry tools targeting or utilizing the microbiome.
NIAID is looking for information on:
- Research on microbial changes following radiation exposure that could be used as biomarkers of injury/biodosimeters;
- Studies of differing microbiomes in strains and species linked to susceptibility or resistance to radiation injury;
- Model development to study effects of radiation exposure on the microbiota located across the body of interest for a public health emergency (e.g., GI tract, oral mucosa, lung, skin);
- Development of MCMs targeting the microbiome to prevent or mitigate radiation injury, when administered >24 hours post-irradiation, such as:
- Probiotics or genetically modified bacteria, dietary modifications, prebiotics, vitamins, and minerals
- Fecal microbiota transplant
- Antibiotic approaches
- Other products that exert an effect on the microbiome or the body’s immune response to changes in the microbiota
RFI responses should be directed to Andrea DiCarlo, Ph.D., NIAID Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation (DAIT), Radiation and Nuclear Countermeasures Program (RNCP) via email at cohena@niaid.nih.gov by 15 August 2021.
Request for Information (RFI): Inviting Comments and Suggestions on the Impact of Radiation Exposure from a Radiological or Nuclear Incident on the Microbiome and the Development of Targeted Therapeutics (NOT-AI-21-055). Deadline: 15 August 2021
SEE ALSO:
- Acute Radiation Syndrome and the Microbiome: Impact and Review Frontiers in Pharmacology
- Temporal Effects on Radiation Responses in Nonhuman Primates: Identification of Biofluid Small Molecule Signatures by Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry Metabolomics Metabolites
- Human organ chips for radiation countermeasure development FDA
- Use of Growth Factors and Cytokines to Treat Injuries Resulting from a Radiation Public Health Emergency BioOne
- Intestinal Bacteria as Powerful Trapping Lifeforms for the Elimination of Radioactive Cesium Frontiers in Veterinary Science
- Second-generation Probiotics Producing IL-22 Increase Survival of Mice After Total Body Irradiation in vivo
- Could a prostate cancer drug save lives from radiation injury? Fred Hutch
