title: Differences in HPRT mutant frequency among middle-aged Flemish women in association with area of residence and blood lead levels.
abstract: Biomarkers were measured in residents of Wilrijk and Hoboken, industrial suburbs of the city of Antwerp, and of Peer, a rural municipality in Flanders, Belgium. Persons with known occupational exposures to toxic compounds or commuting over long distances were excluded. Here, we report the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase gene (HPRT) variant frequencies for 99 non-smoking women aged 50-65 years. HPRT values above the detection limit (V(fpos) values) were observed for 43 subjects (21 from Peer, 22 from Antwerp). The median (10th to 90th percentiles) HPRT variant frequency (V(fpos)) in peripheral lymphocytes was 9.59 (3.44-56.99) for Peer and 3.57 (1.57-13.96) for Antwerp. The V(fpos) value was significantly higher in Peer than in Antwerp, both in terms of crude data (p=0.011) and after correction for age, level of education, smoking status, serum level of selenium and body mass index through analysis of covariance (p=0.011). For the total study population, serum lead concentration showed a non-significant positive correlation with lnV(fpos). In addition, subjects with a blood lead concentration above the median tended to have higher V(fpos) values (9.45x10(-6) for 'high' group versus 5.21x10(-6) for 'low' group; p=0.077 after correction for confounding). Subjects with a serum selenium level above the median tended to have lower V(fpos) values (4.99x10(-6) for 'high' group versus 9.83x10(-6) for 'low' group; p=0.051 after correction for confounding). These data are consistent with an indirect genotoxic effect of lead and with an antimutagenic effect of selenium.
authors.affiliation: Study Centre for Carcinogenesis and Primary Prevention of Cancer, Department of Radiotherapy, Nuclear Medicine and Experimental Cancerology, Ghent University Hospital, Belgium. nicolas.vanlarebeke@ugent.be
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Van Larebeke
authors.forename: Gudrun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Koppen
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nelen
authors.forename: Greet
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schoeters
authors.forename: Herman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Van Loon
authors.forename: Harma
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Albering
authors.forename: Louk
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Riga
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vlietinck
authors.forename: Jos
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kleinjans
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001530:Belgium; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007041:Hypoxanthine Phosphoribosyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood*; D007855:Lead Poisoning / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D007854:Lead; D007041:Hypoxanthine Phosphoribosyltransferase