[Effect of hOGG1 expression level on oxidative DNA damage among workers exposed to nickel in stainless steel production environment].

Objective: To study the excision repair capacity of human 8-oxoguanine DNA N-glycosylase 1 (hOGG1) for 8-OH-dG and the oxidative DNA damage among workers exposed to nickel in stainless steel production environment.

Methods: A total of 231 workers exposed to nickel in a stainless steel production enterprise were recruited as nickel exposure group, and another 75 water pump workers in that enterprise were recruited as control group. The workplace occupational hazard factors were determined.

Relationship between urinary nickel and methylation of p15, p16 in workers exposed to nickel.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between urinary nickel and methylation of p15, p16 in workers exposed to nickel.

Methods: In this study, 165 nickel-exposed workers and 67 workers without exposure were recruited. The levels of urinary nickel were analyzed using dimethylglyoxime spectrophotometric method.

[The relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms of JWA gene and susceptibility to hypertension in workers exposed to heat stress].

Objective: To study the relationship between JWA polymorphisms and the susceptibility to hypertension in workers exposed to heat stress.

Methods: The exposure group included 158 steelworkers and rollers and 76 workers unexposed to heat stress served as control group. The general information was collected according to a questionnaire and the blood pressure was examined for all subjects.

[Relationship between CYP1A1 gene polymorphisms and urinary 1-hydroxypyrene levels in coke oven workers].

Objective: To study the associations of CYP1A1 gene polymorphisms with levels of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene among coke oven workers.

Methods: 223 male workers from a coke plant (76, 82 and 65 workers in oven top group, oven-side group and oven-bottom group respectively) and 119 controls without occupational polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exposure were selected. The MspI gene polymorphism in CYP1A1 3' flanking region and the genotypes at I462V site in exon 7 of CYP1A1 were detected by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and allele specific amplification (ASA).

[Characteristic of the neurobehavioral functional changes in coke oven workers].

Objective: To explore the effect of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on the neurobehavioral function of coke oven workers.

Methods: 200 healthy adult male coke oven workers were selected from a coke plant of a state-owned steel enterprise in Taiyuan City. 88 controls occupationally unexposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were selected from the same enterprise.

[Relationship between aryl hydrocarbon receptor G1661A gene polymorphism and level of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene of coke oven workers].

Objective: To study the relationship between polymorphism of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) gene in G1661A and the level of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene among coke oven workers.

Methods: 295 male subjects were studied, including 214 workers working in coke oven plant and 81 controls working in raw material plant who were not generally exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons occupationally. General in-formation of subjects were collected in a specific questionnaire including age, smoking and drinking habits, the history of occupation and so on.

[Relationship between the expression of heat shock protein and genetic damage in peripheral blood of workers exposed to coke oven emissions].

Objective: To explore the relationship between the expression of heat shock protein 90, 60 and 27 (HSP90, HSP60 and HSP27) and genetic damage in peripheral blood of workers exposed to coke oven emissions.

Methods: 288 coke oven workers in a steel factory were divided into the high-dose group and the low-dose group on the basis of environment monitoring result and work place. There were 172 men in high-dose group (workers who worked at the oven top and oven side) and 116 men in low-dose group (workers who worked at the oven bottom and others who were engaged to aided work).

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).

PAH-DNA adducts in a Chinese population: relationship to PAH exposure, smoking and polymorphisms of metabolic and DNA repair genes.

The present study was conducted in a Chinese population to evaluate the usefulness and sensitivity of PAH-DNA adduct as a biomarker of PAH exposure, and to examine the potential effects of smoking and polymorphisms of responsive genes on DNA adduct formation induced by PAH exposure. The polymorphisms of genes examined include GSTM1, GSTT1, CYP1A1, microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH) and excision repair cross-complementary group 2 (ERCC2). A total of 194 subjects with a broad range of PAH exposures were recruited, including 116 occupationally exposed workers, 49 metropolitan residents and 29 suburban gardeners.

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.

Elevated levels of urinary 8-hydroxy-2 -deoxyguanosine, lymphocytic micronuclei, and serum glutathione S-transferase in workers exposed to coke oven emissions.

To investigate associations among occupational exposure to coke oven emissions (COEs), oxidative stress, cytogenotoxic effects, change in the metabolizing enzyme glutathione S-transferase (GST), and internal levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in coke oven workers, we recruited 47 male coke oven workers and 31 male control subjects from a coke oven plant in northern China. We measured the levels of 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) and 8-hydroxy-2 -deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in urine, micronucleated binucleated cells (BNMNs) in peripheral blood lymphocyte, and GST in serum. Our results showed that the group exposed to COEs had significantly increased levels of 1-OHP [median 5.