The micronucleus assay in human lymphocytes: screening for inter-individual variability and application to biomonitoring.
Micronuclei levels were assessed in cytokinesis-blocked lymphocytes of 200 male and female healthy donors not occupationally exposed to genotoxic risks and of 33 male industrial painters handling genotoxic substances. Frequency of micronucleated cells was 9.87 +/- 3.1 per 1000 in the control population and was shown to have a large inter-individual variability. The study of factors contributing to this variability showed that only smoking could affect micronucleated cell rate, inducing an increase of 25%, whereas age and sex had no effect. Among the industrial painters, frequency of micronucleated cells averaged 18.30 +/- 7.39 per 1000: the difference between the two populations studied was shown to be statistically significant by the Mann-Whitney rank sum test (one-sided U test) and indicated that exposed painters need preventive measures.
Di Giorgio
C
C
Laboratoire de Biogénotoxicologie, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France.
De Méo
M P
MP
Laget
M
M
Guiraud
H
H
Botta
A
A
Duménil
G
G
D000328:Adult; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D015162:Micronucleus Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D009153:Mutagens / Q000633:toxicity*; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D012016:Reference Values
D009153:Mutagens