Pl. Carmichael et al., DETECTION OF BULKY DNA LESIONS IN THE LIVER OF PATIENTS WITH WILSONS-DISEASE AND PRIMARY HEMOCHROMATOSIS, Mutation research, 326(2), 1995, pp. 235-243
In the human metal storage disorders of Wilson's disease and primary h
aemochromatosis, ion transport and excretion dysfunctions result in th
e intracellular deposition of copper and iron, respectively. These abe
rrant accumulations of transition metal ions lead to extensive tissue
damage, especially in the liver. In order to investigate the possible
role of metal ion-mediated oxygen free radical-generated DNA damage in
these processes, DNA was isolated from liver of eight Wilson's diseas
e patients and six haemochromatosis patients. Significant levels of bu
lky DNA damage were detected in these samples by P-32-postlabelling an
alysis, but were not found in liver DNA from age-matched controls. Thi
s form of novel DNA damage was detected in six out of eight Wilson's p
atients, varying between approximately 1 and 100 base modifications pe
r 10(8) nucleotides, and in all of the haemochromatosis samples examin
ed; the levels of modified species per 10(8) nucleotides varying from
approximately 2 to 50. HPLC analysis of these bulky DNA lesions demons
trated that the species formed in Wilson's disease and in haemochromat
osis were chromatographically identical but were not the same as putat
ive purine dimers that can be generated in DNA by in vitro incubation
with Cu+/Fe2+ and H2O2 (although the possibility that the adducts dete
cted are closely related has not been ruled out). Analysis of the oxid
ative base lesion 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine showed that levels were not
elevated in liver DNA from either Wilson's disease or haemochromatosis
sufferers. In fact, a statistically significantly lower level of this
lesion was found in Wilson's disease patients than in controls. These
data suggest that bulky DNA damage present in the liver of both Wilso
n's disease and primary haemochromatosis patients may play a more impo
rtant role in the induction of tissue damage than 8-hydroxydeoxyguanos
ine. The novel DNA damage detected by P-32-postlabelling may also be a
significant factor in the initiation of neoplasia leading to malignan
t hepatoma in haemochromatosis patients.