The Behavioral Effect of Low Dose Carbon Ions Irradiation on Mice in Short-Term Period

The active introduction of ion therapy for the treatment of oncological diseases, as well as long-term plans for the exploration of deep space, where crews will be exposed to galactic radiation, the spectrum of which is dominated by protons and high-energy ions - carbon and iron, urgently pose the task of assessing the effect of ions on cognitive functions in order to increase the effectiveness of radiotherapy and ensure the safety of space flights. Purpose: To study the effect of a therapeutic beam of carbon ions with an energy of 450 MeV/n at the Bragg peak at a dose of 0.7 Gy on the behavior of laboratory mice in the early period after irradiation. Material and methods: Experiments were carried out on 2-month-old male mice of the SHK (28–32 g.). Before irradiation, the animals were placed on a platform in special containers. Irradiation with a uniform beam of carbon ions with an energy of 450 MeV/n in the Bragg peak at a dose of 0.7 Gy, formed by a “wobbler” magnet, was carried out in the U-70 RBS Collective Use Center (Protvino). Two days after irradiation, the following set of methods was used to assess the general activity, spatial learning, long-term and short-term hippocampus-dependent memory of mice: “open field”, Barnes maze and a novel object recognition test. Results: It was found that mice whole-body irradiated with a therapeutic beam of carbon ions at a dose of 0.7 Gy do not significantly exhibit an altered model of locomotor and psychoemotional behavior, but they show a deterioration in the memory trace on the 3rd day after training and a violation of episodic memory in the novel object recognition test. Conclusion: The obtained results complement the accumulating literature data on the effects of low doses of heavy charged particles, and in particular accelerated carbon ions, on the cognitive abilities and behavior of laboratory animals, emphasizing the need to evaluate the observed effects dynamically after exposure.