A MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY STUDY IN WOMEN FROM UPPER SILESIA, POLAND

The present report is a follow-up to our previous molecular epidemiolo gy studies on DNA damage in residents of the industrial region of Uppe r Silesia. The study was designed to focus on environmental exposure t o airborne pollutants; other exposures or confounding factors (e.g. sm oking status and age) were eliminated. A Silesian population consistin g of 67 donors was compared to 72 inhabitants of a less polluted but s imilarly urbanized area, surrounded by a rural part of Poland. In both regions the donors were non-smoking females with similar age range, a nd occupation. Eight biomarkers including urinary mutagenicity and I-h ydroxypyrene, polycylic aromatic hydrocarbon PAH-DNA adducts in oral m ucosa, sister chromatid exchanges (SCE), high frequency cells (HFC), c hromosomal aberrations (CA), and sensitivity to bleomycin in lymphocyt es as well as glutathione s-transferase (GSTMI)/cytochrome P4501A1 (CY P1A1) genotypes were evaluated in samples collected in summer and wint er seasons. All the biomarkers of internal and biological doses of mut agens and their early biologic effects indicated statistically signifi cant increases in the Silesian group when compared to the controls. Im munohistochemical quantitation of PAH-DNA adducts additionally reveale d significant seasonal changes in the levels of adducts. No influence of susceptibility genotypes (GSTMI and CYP1A1) on biomarker levels was observed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.