[Effects of subchronic benzo[a]pyrene exposure on hippocampal cholinergic system in rats].

Objective: To observe the effects of subchronic benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) exposure on the neurobehavior and hippocampal acetylcholine (Ach) level, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, and mRNA and protein expression of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor α7 subtype (nAChR α7) in rats, and to investigate the neurotoxic mechanism of B[a]P.

Methods: Sixty healthy male SD rats were randomly divided into blank control group, solvent control group, and B [a]P exposure groups. Each rat in the exposure groups was intraperitoneally injected with B[a]P at 1.

Using lymphocyte and plasma Hsp70 as biomarkers for assessing coke oven exposure among steel workers.

Background: Hsp70, an early-response protein induced when organisms are confronted with simple or complicated environmental stresses, can act as either a cellular protector or a danger signal.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to evaluate levels of lymphocyte and/or plasma Hsp70 as biomarkers for assessing exposure response to complex coke oven emissions (COEs).

Methods: We recruited 101 coke oven workers and determined levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure, urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP), genotoxic damage by comet assay and micronuclei test, and other markers of damage, including plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH).

[Relationship between heat shock protein 72 and DNA genetic damage in peripheral blood lymphocytes of coke oven workers].

Objective: To investigate the relationship between heat shock protein 72 (Hsp72) and DNA genetic damage in peripheral blood lymphocytes of coke oven workers and the role of Hsp72 in protection of cells from genetic damage induced by coke oven emissions.

Methods: Two hundred and sixty-seven coke oven workers and thirty controls without occupational PAHs exposure were investigated. Benzo[a]pyrene concentrations in the ambient air individually collected were assayed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Significant positive correlation of plasma BPDE-albumin adducts to urinary 1-hydroxypyrene in coke oven workers.

Objective: To investigate the application of BPDE-albumin adducts as monitoring biomarkers for coke oven workers exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and to explore possible relationship between BPDE-albumin adducts and urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) levels in them.

Methods: Thirty-seven coke oven workers from a coke plant and 47 controls without the occupational exposure to PAHs were recruited in this study. The levels of plasma BPDE-albumin adducts and urinary 1-OHP were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography.

Association between plasma BPDE-Alb adduct concentrations and DNA damage of peripheral blood lymphocytes among coke oven workers.

Objectives: Coke oven emissions (COE) containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can induce both benzo[a]pyrene-r-7, t-8, t-9,c-10-tetrahydotetrol-albumin (BPDE-Alb) adducts and DNA damage. However, the relation between these biomarkers for early biological effects is not well documented in coke oven workers.

Methods: In this study, the authors recruited 207 male workers exposed to COE and 102 controls not exposed to COE in the same steel plant in northern China.

Association of polymorphisms in AhR, CYP1A1, GSTM1, and GSTT1 genes with levels of DNA damage in peripheral blood lymphocytes among coke-oven workers.

Accumulating evidence has shown that both DNA damage caused by the metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and genetic polymorphisms in PAH-metabolic genes contribute to individual susceptibility to PAH-induced carcinogenesis. However, the functional relevance of genetic polymorphisms in PAH-metabolic genes in exposed individuals is still unclear. In this study of 240 coke-oven workers (the exposed group) and 123 non-coke-oven workers (the control group), we genotyped for polymorphisms in the AhR, CYP1A1, GSTM1, and GSTT1 genes by PCR methods, and determined the levels of DNA damage in peripheral blood lymphocytes using the alkaline comet assay.