Identification of a chemical marker of environmental exposure to formaldehyde.
Formaldehyde (F) binds human serum albumin (HSA) covalently, giving rise to a molecular adduct F-HSA having the F as hapten. The humoral immune response to the adduct provides a biological marker of F exposure. In order to titrate serum anti-F-HSA antibodies, a new indirect competitive enzyme immunoassay (displacement assay) was developed. Two groups of about 90 heterogeneous healthy subjects were examined using two in vitro conjugated F-HSA adducts with different ratios between F and HSA (5:1 and 10:1). Contingency table analysis showed a greater sensitivity (97%) and specificity (92%) of the test with the 10:1 F-HSA adduct than with the 5:1. Data examination using multivariate analysis of variance revealed that in both groups the smoking variable significantly explains (P<0.01) the values of the F exposure marker. A significant association with immunological response was obtained only in male smokers, using 5:1 F-HSA adduct, while with 10:1 ratio, a good association in male and female smokers was found. Results confirm that the immunological assay developed (displacement assay) could be a useful method for evaluating F exposure, especially for public health monitoring on a large scale.
Carraro
E
E
University of Turin, Via Santena, 5 bis, Turin, 10126, Italy.
Gasparini
S
S
Gilli
G
G
D000328:Adult; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects; D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D005557:Formaldehyde / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D011485:Protein Binding; D011817:Rabbits; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*
D015415:Biomarkers; D012709:Serum Albumin; D005557:Formaldehyde