title: DNA damage and repair in human leukocytes exposed to styrene-7,8-oxide measured by the comet assay.
abstract: Styrene-7,8-oxide (SO) is produced by cytochrome p450 monooxygenases as the main mammalian metabolite of styrene, an important industrial chemical present at high concentrations in the ambient air of fiberglass-reinforced plastic plants. Previous studies have shown positive results for SO in the induction of several cytogenetic endpoints in vitro. In this work we have evaluated, by means of the comet assay, the potential of SO to act as a DNA damaging agent in human peripheral leukocytes and the ability of white blood cells to repair the DNA damage induced by this compound. Our results show that SO induces DNA damage at concentrations higher than 50 microM in a dose-dependent manner, and that the lesions produced by SO are efficiently removed within a few hours after the end of treatment.
authors.affiliation: Dept. de Biologia Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidade da Coruña, Campus A Zapateira s/n, 15071, La Coruña, Spain.
authors.forename: Blanca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Laffon
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pásaro
authors.forename: Josefina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Méndez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D020552:Comet Assay; D004249:DNA Damage; D004260:DNA Repair; D004852:Epoxy Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D004852:Epoxy Compounds; C013690:styrene oxide