A Novel Focal Duodenal Radiation Injury Model Reveals Dose-, Time-, and Spatially Dependent Microbiome Perturbations After Radiation Injury

The duodenum is a key organ at risk during sterotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR). Understanding mechanisms of radiation-induced intestinal injury (RIII) could reveal novel strategies to reduce SABR toxicities. The gut microbiome contributes to RIII; however, existing preclinical models either require surgical manipulation or fail to recapitulate high-dose conformal treatment fields used during SABR, confounding microbiome studies. We developed a noninvasive focal bowel irradiation model to assess microbiome dynamics in both the duodenum and the stool after high-dose duodenal irradiation.