Micronucleus frequency in copper-mine workers exposed to arsenic is modulated by the AS3MT Met287Thr polymorphism.

Mutat Res Genet Toxicol Environ Mutagen

Grup de Mutagènesi, Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Facultat de Biociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, ISCIII, Spain. Electronic address:

Published: January 2014

Arsenic(III)methyltransferase (AS3MT) has been demonstrated to be the key enzyme in the metabolism of arsenic as it catalyses the methylation of arsenite and monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) to form methylated arsenic species, which have higher toxic and genotoxic potential than the parent compounds. The aim of this study is to evaluate if genetic variation in the AS3MT gene influences arsenic-induced cytogenetic damage, measured by the micronucleus (MN) assay. AS3MT Met287Thr allele frequencies and MN values were determined for 207 subjects working in the copper-mine industry, who were exposed to variable levels of arsenic. The urinary arsenic profile was used as individual biomarker of arsenic exposure. Results indicate that the MN frequencies found in peripheral blood lymphocytes of the exposed population poorly correlate with the levels of total arsenic content in urine. Nevertheless, when workers were classified according to their AS3MT Met287Thr genotypes, significantly higher MN values were observed for those carrying the variant allele [odds ratio (OR), 3.4 (1.6-5.2); P=0.0003)]. To our knowledge, these results are the first to show that genetic variation in AS3MT, especially the Met287Thr polymorphism, may play a role in modulating the levels of arsenic-induced cytogenetic damage among individuals chronically exposed to arsenic.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mrgentox.2013.09.010DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

as3mt met287thr
16
arsenic
8
exposed arsenic
8
met287thr polymorphism
8
genetic variation
8
variation as3mt
8
arsenic-induced cytogenetic
8
cytogenetic damage
8
as3mt
6
micronucleus frequency
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!