Possible effects of the exposure to ionizing radiation on the patients recovered from COVID-19

The aim. To conduct an analytical literature review on the possible impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the radiosensitivity of the human body and justify the relevance of radiobiological research in this area. Materials and methods. Analysis of data from biological dosimetry / indication of radiation lesions of human peripheral blood T-lymphocyte chromosomes under medical irradiation for comparison with radiosensitivity in the patients recovered from COVID-19 (Scopus International Scientific Metric Database, IAEA guidelines, 2011). Results. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, forecasting and clarifying of the mechanisms of distant effects resulting from interactions between ionizing radiation and the SARS-CoV-2 virus play an important role. The difficulty in solving this problem is caused by the fact that the global science has no exhaustive information on the possible influence of this virus on radiation-induced effects. The attention of the professional community is drawn to the possible impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the radiosensitivity of the body of patients recovered from COVID-19 and a hypothesis is first proposed regarding the mechanism on how to increase it based on the development of systemic long-term inflammation. Therefore, clinical trials of low-dose radiotherapy for the treatment of COVID-19-related pneumonia involve preliminary radiobiological studies to answer the following question: does the SARS-CoV-2 virus affect the radiosensitivity of the human body? Long-term experience of the author of this paper in biodosimetric (cytogenetic) studies allows her to recommend the peripheral blood lymphocyte test system with chromosome aberration’s analysis as the most radiosensitive cell model. Conclusions. Clinical trials of low-dose radiotherapy for the treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia involve a preliminary radiobiological study to answer the following question: does the SARS-CoV-2 virus affect the radiosensitivity of the human body? The most optimal approach for the solution of this problem is the use of test-system of human peripheral blood lymphocytes’ culture with the subsequent cytogenetic analysis. It will allow investigating changes in the “dose-effect” “cell cycle stage-effect” dependencies, as well as changes in individual radiosensitivity under the influence of SARS-CoV-2 virus