title: The comet assay as a tool for human biomonitoring studies: the ComNet project.
abstract: The comet assay is widely used in human biomonitoring to measure DNA damage as a marker of exposure to genotoxic agents or to investigate genoprotective effects. Studies often involve small numbers of subjects, and design may be sub-optimal in other respects. In addition, comet assay protocols in use in different laboratories vary significantly. In spite of these difficulties, it is appropriate to carry out a pooled analysis of all available comet assay biomonitoring data, in order to establish baseline parameters of DNA damage, and to investigate associations between comet assay measurements and factors such as sex, age, smoking status, nutrition, lifestyle, etc. With this as its major objective, the ComNet project has recruited almost 100 research groups willing to share datasets. Here we provide a background to this project, discussing the history of the comet assay and practical issues that can critically affect its performance. We survey its diverse applications in biomonitoring studies, including environmental and occupational exposure to genotoxic agents, genoprotection by dietary and other factors, DNA damage associated with various diseases, and intrinsic factors that affect DNA damage levels in humans. We examine in depth the quality of data from a random selection of studies, from an epidemiological and statistical point of view.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Toxicology, Flemish Institute of Technological Research (VITO) Mol, Belgium.
authors.forename: Gudrun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Koppen
authors.affiliation: Unit of Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Pisana, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Valdiglesias
authors.affiliation: Environmental Chemistry (MILK), Health Effects Laboratory, Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), Kjeller, Norway.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dusinska
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kruszewski
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Section of Environmental Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Møller
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina Genòmica y Toxicologìa Ambiental, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autònoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico.
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rojas
authors.affiliation: Nanomaterial Toxicology Group, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India; Institute of Life Sciences, School of Science and Technology, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Alok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dhawan
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Technology and Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Benzie
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Erdem
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Coskun
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical-Surgical Specialties and Public Health, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moretti
authors.affiliation: Universität Ulm, Institut für Humangenetik, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Günter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Speit
authors.affiliation: Unit of Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Pisana, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: stefano.bonassi@sanraffaele.it.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonassi
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics*; D020552:Comet Assay / Q000379:methods*; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000235:genetics*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000235:genetics; D016273:Occupational Exposure
keywords: Comet assay; DNA damage; DNA repair; Human biomonitoring; Pooled analysis