title: Somatic mutation in peripheral lymphocytes of former workers at the Okunojima poison gas factory.
abstract: The former workers at the Okunojima poison gas factory comprise a high risk group for malignant tumors such as respiratory tract cancer. Demonstration of injury to somatic cell genes in this group may provide important data for evaluating the association between mustard gas and malignant tumors. So we measured the frequency of T lymphocytes lacking the hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HGPRT) activity, by cloning with interleukin 2 (IL2). In this study, we performed cloning of T lymphocytes lacking the HGPRT activity using recombinant IL2 (rIL2) and observed an increased frequency of somatic mutation in poison gas workers who had had more chances to be exposed to mustard gas and those who had worked for a longer period. This result suggested that inhalation of small amounts of mustard gas damaged somatic cell genes, resulting in carcinogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Hiroshima University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yanagida
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hozawa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishioka
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oyama
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takaishi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hakoda
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akiyama
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamakido
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D006801:Humans; D007041:Hypoxanthine Phosphoribosyltransferase / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009150:Mustard Compounds / Q000506:poisoning*; D009151:Mustard Gas / Q000506:poisoning*; D009154:Mutation; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology
chemical_list: D009150:Mustard Compounds; D004247:DNA; D007041:Hypoxanthine Phosphoribosyltransferase; D009151:Mustard Gas