Increased micronucleus, nucleoplasmic bridge, and nuclear bud frequencies in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of diesel engine exhaust-exposed workers.

Abstract

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has recently reclassified diesel engine exhaust (DEE) as a Group 1 carcinogen. Micronucleus (MN), nucleoplasmic bridge (NPB), and nuclear bud (NBUD) frequencies in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) are associated with cancer risk. However, the impact of DEE exposure on MN frequency has not been thoroughly elucidated due to mixed exposure and its impact on NPB and NBUD frequencies has never been explored in humans. We recruited 117 diesel engine testing workers with exclusive exposure to DEE and 112 non-DEE-exposed workers, and then we measured urinary levels of 4 mono-hydroxylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OH-PAHs) using high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry as well as MN, NPB, and NBUD frequencies in PBLs using cytokinesis-block MN assay. The DEE-exposed workers exhibited significantly higher MN, NPB, and NBUD frequencies than the non-DEE-exposed workers (P < 0.05). Among all study subjects, increasing levels of all 4 urinary OH-PAHs, on both quartile and continuous scales, were associated with increased MN, NPB, and NBUD frequencies (all P < 0.05). When the associations were analyzed separately in DEE-exposed and non-DEE-exposed workers, we found that the association between increasing quartiles of urinary 9-hydroxyphenanthrene (9-OHPh) and MN frequencies persisted in DEE-exposed workers (P = 0.001). The percent of MN frequencies increased, on average, by 23.99% (95% confidential interval, 9.64-39.93) per 1-unit increase in ln-transformed 9-OHPh. Our results clearly show that exposure to DEE can induce increases in MN, NPB, and NBUD frequencies in PBLs and suggest that DEE exposure level is associated with MN frequencies.

• Authors: Xiao Zhang, Huawei Duan, Feng Gao, Yuanyuan Li, Chuanfeng Huang, Yong Niu, Weimin Gao, Shanfa Yu, Yuxin Zheng
• Journal: Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology (Toxicol Sci) Vol. 143 Issue 2 Pg. 408-17 (Feb 2015) ISSN: 1096-0929 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 25370840 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: [email protected].

Chemical References

• Air Pollutants, Occupational
• Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
• Vehicle Emissions

Topics

• Adult
• Air Pollutants, Occupational (toxicity)
• Cell Nucleus (drug effects, ultrastructure)
• Gene Amplification (drug effects)
• Humans
• Lymphocytes (drug effects, ultrastructure)
• Male
• Micronuclei, Chromosome-Defective (chemically induced, statistics & numerical data)
• Micronucleus Tests
• Occupational Exposure (adverse effects, analysis)
• Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (urine)
• Translocation, Genetic (drug effects)
• Vehicle Emissions (toxicity)