title: Overview of benzene-induced aplastic anaemia.
abstract: The scientific literature is replete with reports of cases of benzene-induced toxicity to the haematopoietic system. These mainly involve aplastic anaemia, the first cases of which were reported in 1897. At high level of benzene exposure (air concentration > 100 p.p.m.), the incidence of aplastic anaemia is approximately 1/100 individuals exposed, but this drops precipitously at lower levels of exposure (10-20 p.p.m.) to around 1/10,000. Factors that affect susceptibility may include high liver cytochrome P450 2E1 activity and low folic acid intake. The mechanism of benzene-induced aplastic anaemia remains unclear, but is likely to involve: (a) metabolism of benzene in the liver; (b) transport of metabolites to the marrow and their secondary activation to toxic quinones and free radicals by peroxidase enzymes; (c) induction of apoptosis, DNA damage and altered differentiation in early progenitor cells; and (d) depletion of the stem cell pool.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California, Berkeley 947207360, USA.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000741:Anemia, Aplastic / Q000139:chemically induced*; D001554:Benzene / Q000506:poisoning*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D016273:Occupational Exposure
chemical_list: D001554:Benzene