Genotoxic effects of occupational exposure to glass fibres - A human biomonitoring study.

Aurelia Liskova, Maria Dusinska, Stefano Bonassi, Soterios Kyrtopoulos, Erika Halašová, Eleonora Martha Longhin, Naouale El Yamani, Elise Rundén-Pran, Daniel Kuba, Ladislava Wsolova, Zora Krivosikova, Miroslava Lehotska Mikusova, Marcello Ceppi, Jana Tulinska, Verona Buocikova, Alexandra Horska, Zuzana Dzupinkova, Anton Kocan, Andrew Collins, Katarina Volkovova, Magdalena Barancokova, Alena Kazimirova, Marta Staruchova, Bozena Smolkova

Journal: Mutation research. Genetic toxicology and environmental mutagenesis 2023;885():503572

PMID: 36669817

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Abstract

As part of a large human biomonitoring study, we conducted occupational monitoring in a glass fibre factory in Slovakia. Shopfloor workers (n = 80), with a matched group of administrators in the same factory (n = 36), were monitored for exposure to glass fibres and to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The impact of occupational exposure on chromosomal aberrations, DNA damage and DNA repair, immunomodulatory markers, and the role of nutritional and lifestyle factors, as well as the effect of polymorphisms in metabolic and DNA repair genes on genetic stability, were investigated. The (enzyme-modified) comet assay was employed to measure DNA strand breaks (SBs) and apurinic sites, oxidised and alkylated bases. Antioxidant status was estimated by resistance to HO-induced DNA damage. Base excision repair capacity was measured with an in vitro assay (based on the comet assay). Exposure of workers to fibres was low, but still was associated with higher levels of SBs, and SBs plus oxidised bases, and higher sensitivity to HO. Multivariate analysis showed that exposure increased the risk of high levels of SBs by 20%. DNA damage was influenced by antioxidant enzymes catalase and glutathione S-transferase (measured in blood). DNA repair capacity was inversely correlated with DNA damage and positively with antioxidant status. An inverse correlation was found between DNA base oxidation and the percentage of eosinophils (involved in the inflammatory response) in peripheral blood of both exposed and reference groups. Genotypes of XRCC1 variants rs3213245 and rs25487 significantly decreased the risk of high levels of base oxidation, to 0.50 (p = 0.001) and 0.59 (p = 0.001), respectively. Increases in DNA damage owing to glass fibre exposure were significant but modest, and no increases were seen in chromosome aberrations or micronuclei. However, it is of concern that even low levels of exposure to these fibres can cause significant genetic damage.

Address: Biostatistics Unit, San Martino Policlinic Hospital, Genoa, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].; Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Slovak Medical University, Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Slovak Medical University, Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Slovak Medical University, Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Slovak Medical University, Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Slovak Medical University, Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Slovak Medical University, Bratislava, Slovakia; Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Science (IMBA), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Slovak Medical University, Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Laboratory of Immunotoxicology, Slovak Medical University in Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Laboratory of Immunotoxicology, Slovak Medical University in Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Laboratory of Immunotoxicology, Slovak Medical University in Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacotherapy, Slovak Medical University, Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Institute of Biophysics, Informatics and BioStatistics, Faculty of Public Health, Slovak Medical University, Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: [email protected].; National Transplant Organization, Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Health Effects Laboratory, Department for Environmental Chemistry, NILU - Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Kjeller, Norway. Electronic address: [email protected].; Health Effects Laboratory, Department for Environmental Chemistry, NILU - Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Kjeller, Norway. Electronic address: [email protected].; Health Effects Laboratory, Department for Environmental Chemistry, NILU - Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Kjeller, Norway. Electronic address: [email protected].; Biomedical Center Martin, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius University in Bratislava, Martin, Slovakia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Institute of Biology, Medicinal Chemistry, and Biotechnology, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: [email protected].; IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana, Unit of Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].; Health Effects Laboratory, Department for Environmental Chemistry, NILU - Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Kjeller, Norway. Electronic address: [email protected].

DOI: 10.1016/j.mrgentox.2022.503572

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https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1383...

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https://medlineplus.gov/occupationalhealth.html

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https://antibodies.cancer.gov/detail/CPTC-HLA-B-1

MeSH Terms: Humans, Antioxidants, Biological Monitoring, Hydrogen Peroxide, DNA Damage, DNA Repair, Comet Assay, Occupational Exposure, Chromosome Aberrations, DNA, X-ray Repair Cross Complementing Protein 1