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Rogelio Recio,^1,2 Wendy A. Robbins,³ Guadalupe Ocampo-Gómez,⁴ Victor Borja-Aburto,⁴ Javier Morán-Martínez,² John R. Froines,³ Rosa Ma. García Hernández,¹ and Mariano E. Cebrián¹

¹Sección de Toxicología, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN (CINVESTAV), México DF, México; ²Departamento de Biología de la Reprodución, Centro de Investigación Biomédica, Facultad de Medicina de Torreón, Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila, Torréon, Coahuila, México; ³Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA; ⁴Centro Nacional de Salud Ambiental, Secretaría de Salud y Asistencia, México DF, México

Abstract

It has been estimated that 4 of 1,000 live births and 35% of spontaneous abortions are aneuploid and that an important proportion of embryo and newborn aneuploidy is of paternal origin. Exposure to organophosphorous pesticides (OP) has been associated with sperm hyperploidy/polyploidy. Therefore, we aimed to assess the frequency of sperm aneuploidy (X, Y, and 18) and its relationship with urinary OP metabolites in agricultural workers. We performed multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization on samples from nine men obtained before and during the pesticide spraying season to assess sperm aneuploidy. We measured urinary OP metabolite levels by gas-liquid chromatography. Aneuploidies were found in 0.67% of total sperm nuclei. The most frequent aneuploidy was the lack of a sexual chromosome or sex null (0.19%) , followed by XY18 (0.15%) and XY18-18 (0.06%) . OP metabolites detected at higher concentrations were dimethylthiophosphate, dimethyldithiophosphate, and diethylphosphate (DEP) . There were no differences in average aneuploidy frequency or urinary metabolite levels between samples collected before and after exposure. However, Poisson regression analysis adjusted for age, alcohol intake, and sperm concentration showed significant associations between OP metabolite concentrations and increased frequency of sperm aneuploidies. The association was more evident between DEP and sex null, and the risk increased further during the spraying season. Thus, OP exposure could interfere with sperm chromosome segregation and increase the risk for genetic syndromes, such as Turner's. Further studies are required to assess the prevalence of spontaneous abortions, birth defects, and genetic syndromes in agricultural communities. Key words: organophosphorous pesticides, sex null, sperm aneuploidy, Turner syndrome. Environ Health Perspect 109:1237-1240 (2001) . [Online 24 November 2001]

http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2001/109p1237-1240recio/ abstract.html

Address correspondence to M.E. Cebrián, Sección de Toxicología, CINVESTAV, P.O. Box 14-740, Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional #2508, Col. Zacatenco, Delegación Gustavo A. Madero, CP 07300, México D.F., México. Telephone: +(52) (5) 747-7000, ext. 5433. Fax: +(52) (5) 747-7111. E-mail: mcebrian@mail.cinvestav.mx

We thank M. Uribe and L. del Carmen Sánchez Peña for chemical analysis, and L. López and A. Gómez Muñoz for their advice on statistics.

This study was supported partially by grants from CONACYT, Mexico (28403-M) , the World Health Organization Human Reproduction Program, Switzerland (96349) , UC-MEXUS, Mexico-USA, and by the U.S. NIH/Fogarty International Center Training and Research in Environmental and Occupational Health (TW00623) .

Received 27 November 2000 ; accepted 3 May 2001.