Chromosome-wide aneuploidy study of cultured circulating myeloid progenitor cells from workers occupationally exposed to formaldehyde.

Abstract

Formaldehyde (FA) is an economically important industrial chemical to which millions of people worldwide are exposed environmentally and occupationally. Recently, the International Agency for Cancer Research concluded that there is sufficient evidence that FA causes leukemia, particularly myeloid leukemia. To evaluate the biological plausibility of this association, we employed a chromosome-wide aneuploidy study approach, which allows the evaluation of aneuploidy and structural chromosome aberrations (SCAs) of all 24 chromosomes simultaneously, to analyze cultured myeloid progenitor cells from 29 workers exposed to relatively high levels of FA and 23 unexposed controls. We found statistically significant increases in the frequencies of monosomy, trisomy, tetrasomy and SCAs of multiple chromosomes in exposed workers compared with controls, with particularly notable effects for monosomy 1 [P = 6.02E-06, incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 2.31], monosomy 5 (P = 9.01E-06; IRR = 2.24), monosomy 7 (P = 1.57E-05; IRR = 2.17), trisomy 5 (P = 1.98E-05; IRR = 3.40) and SCAs of chromosome 5 (P = 0.024; IRR = 4.15). The detection of increased levels of monosomy 7 and SCAs of chromosome 5 is particularly relevant as they are frequently observed in acute myeloid leukemia. Our findings provide further evidence that leukemia-related cytogenetic changes can occur in the circulating myeloid progenitor cells of healthy workers exposed to FA, which may be a potential mechanism underlying FA-induced leukemogenesis.

• Authors: Qing Lan, Martyn T Smith, Xiaojiang Tang, Weihong Guo, Roel Vermeulen, Zhiying Ji, Wei Hu, Alan E Hubbard, Min Shen, Cliona M McHale, Chuangyi Qiu, Songwang Liu, Boris Reiss, Laura Beane-Freeman, Aaron Blair, Yichen Ge, Jun Xiong, Laiyu Li, Stephen M Rappaport, Hanlin Huang, Nathaniel Rothman, Luoping Zhang
• Journal: Carcinogenesis (Carcinogenesis) Vol. 36 Issue 1 Pg. 160-7 (Jan 2015) ISSN: 1460-2180 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 25391402 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural)
• Copyright: Published by Oxford University Press 2014.

Chemical References

• Disinfectants
• Formaldehyde

Topics

• Adult
• Aneuploidy
• Case-Control Studies
• Cells, Cultured
• Chromosomes, Human (drug effects)
• Cross-Sectional Studies
• Disinfectants (adverse effects)
• Female
• Follow-Up Studies
• Formaldehyde (adverse effects)
• Humans
• In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence
• Male
• Myeloid Progenitor Cells (drug effects, metabolism, pathology)
• Occupational Exposure (adverse effects)
• Prognosis