Bm. Lee et Pt. Strickland, ANTIBODIES TO CARCINOGEN-DNA ADDUCTS IN MICE CHRONICALLY EXPOSED TO POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS, Immunology letters, 36(2), 1993, pp. 117-124
Antibodies specific for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-DNA addu
cts have previously been reported in human sera. In this study, we exa
mined the association between mixed PAH exposure and PAH-DNA adduct sp
ecific antibodies in BALB/c mice. Mice were treated either by i.p. inj
ection or by intragastric (i.g.) intubation with a mixture of seven di
fferent PAHs [benzo(a)pyrene (BP), benz(a)anthracene (BA), fluoranthen
e (FA), dibenz(a,h)anthracene (DBA), 3-methyl-cholanthrene (MC), chrys
ene (Ch), benzo(b)fluoranthene (BF)] at three doses (0, 15, 150 mug of
each PAH) twice a week for 8 weeks. Sera were screened by direct ELIS
A for antibodies recognizing DNA modified by diolepoxides or epoxides
of each PAH injected. In i.p. treated mice, the sera were slightly mor
e reactive to DNAs modified with diolepoxides of BP, BA, or Ch or an e
poxide of DBA than to unmodified DNA. In i.g. treated mice, the sera w
ere more reactive to DNAs modified with diolepoxides of BA or BF than
to unmodified DNA. For some PAHs, a dose-response effect was observed
between sera reactivity to PAH metabolites and the dose of PAH adminis
tered. However, there was considerable variation in the immune respons
es among individual mice within each treatment group. When tested by c
ompetitive ELISA, none of the sera could discriminate between modified
and unmodified DNA. This animal study suggests that an assessment of
previous carcinogen exposure by measuring DNA adduct-specific antibodi
es requires further validation prior to its application to the human m
onitoring of carcinogen exposure.