| Increased Levels of 8-Hydroxy-2´-Deoxyguanosine Attributable to Carcinogenic Metal Exposure among Schoolchildren Ruey-Hong Wong, Chung-Yih Kuo, Ming-Lin Hsu, Tsun-Yen Wang, Pi-I Chang, Tsung-Hsun Wu, and Shuai Huang Department of Public Health, College of Health Care and Management, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan Abstract
Arsenic, chromium, and nickel are reported in several epidemiologic studies to be associated with lung cancer. However, the health effects of arsenic, chromium, and nickel exposures are equivocal for children. Therefore, we performed a cross-sectional study to investigate possible associations between the internal concentrations of arsenic, chromium, and nickel and the level of oxidative stress to DNA in children. We measured urinary levels of arsenic, chromium, and nickel for 142 nonsmoking children using atomic absorption spectrometry. As a biomarker for oxidative stress, urinary 8-hydroxy-2´-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) levels were analyzed with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. The median urinary 8-OHdG level for our subjects was 11.7 ng/mg creatinine. No obvious relationship between the levels of urinary nickel and 8-OHdG was found. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that children with higher urinary chromium had greater urinary 8-OHdG than did those with lower urinary chromium. Similarly, subjects with higher urinary arsenic had greater urinary 8-OHdG than did those with lower urinary arsenic. Furthermore, children with both high urinary arsenic and high urinary chromium had the highest 8-OHdG levels (mean ± SE, 16.0 ± 1.3 ; vs. low arsenic/low chromium, p < 0.01) in urine, followed by those with low arsenic/high chromium (13.7 ± 1.6 ; vs. low arsenic/low chromium, p = 0.25) , high arsenic/low chromium (12.9 ± 1.6 vs. low arsenic/low chromium, p = 0.52) , and low arsenic/low chromium (11.5 ± 1.3) ; the trend was significant (p < 0.001) . Thus, environmental carcinogenic metal exposure to chromium and arsenic may play an important role in oxidative DNA damage to children. Key words: arsenic, children, chromium, 8-hydroxy-2´-deoxyguanosine, nickel. Environ Health Perspect 113: 1386-1390 (2005) . doi:10.1289/ehp.7401 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 27 May 2005]
Address correspondence to R.-H. Wong, Department of Public Health, College of Health Care and Management, Chung Shan Medical University, 110 Chien-Kuo North Rd., Section 1, Taichung, Taiwan 40242. Telphone: 886-4-24730022, ext. 11792. Fax: 886-4-23248179. E-mail: rueyhong@csmu.edu.tw This study was supported by the Bureau of Environmental Protection of Taichung County, Taiwan, Republic of China. The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 9 July 2004 ; accepted 26 May 2005. The full version of this article is available for free in HTML or PDF formats. |
