ANTI-BENZO[A]PYRENE DIOLEPOXIDE-DNA ADDUCT LEVELS IN PERIPHERAL MONONUCLEAR-CELLS FROM COKE-OVEN WORKERS AND THE ENHANCING EFFECT OF SMOKING

The level of (+/-)-r-7,t-8-dihydroxy-t-9,10-oxy-7,8,9,10- tetrahydrobe nzo[a]pyrene (anti-BPDE) bound to DNA of lymphocytes plus monocytes in 39 coke oven workers exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH ) and 39 non-exposed persons (controls) were investigated, each of the groups consisting of smokers and non-smokers. The adduct level was me asured by an improved HPLC/fluorescence method (Rojas,M., Alexandrov,K ., van Schooten,F.J., Hillebrand,M., Kriek,E. and Bartsch,H., Carcinog enesis, 15, 557-560, 1994) through the release of the corresponding be nzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) tetrols. The anti-BPDE-DNA adduct was detected in 51% of coke oven workers exposed to PAH and in 18% of the non-exposed (control) subjects. The mean level of anti-BPDE-DNA adducts/10(8) nuc leotides in coke oven workers (15.7 +/- 37.8) was similar to 8 times h igher than in non-exposed subjects (2.0 +/- 8.7), The interindividual variation of adduct levels was similar to 100-fold in coke oven worker s and similar to 50-fold in controls respectively, Smokers in the expo sed group had 3.5 times more DNA adducts than non-smokers. With the ex ception of one non-smoker with very high adduct levels (52.8 adducts/1 0(8)), the control subjects showed the presence of barely detectable a dducts in only 16% of the samples examined. The increased in vivo form ation in some smokers and high variability of anti-BPDE-DNA adducts in coke oven workers suggests variations in genetically controlled activ ation/inactivation reactions of PAH metabolism.