title: Blood miRNAs as sensitive and specific biological indicators of environmental and occupational exposure to volatile organic compound (VOC).
abstract: To date, there is still shortage of highly sensitive and specific minimally invasive biomarkers for assessment of environmental toxicants exposure. Because of the significance of microRNA (miRNA) in various diseases, circulating miRNAs in blood may be unique biomarkers for minimally invasive prediction of toxicants exposure. We identified and validated characteristic miRNA expression profiles of human whole blood in workers exposed to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and compared the usefulness of miRNA indicator of VOCs with the effectiveness of the already used urinary biomarkers of occupational exposure. Using a microarray based approach we screened and detected deregulated miRNAs in their expression in workers exposed to VOCs (toluene [TOL], xylene [XYL] and ethylbenzene [EBZ]). Total 169 workers from four dockyards were enrolled in current study, and 50 subjects of them were used for miRNA microarray analysis. We identified 467 miRNAs for TOL, 211 miRNAs for XYL, and 695 miRNAs for XYL as characteristic discernible exposure indicator, which could discerned each VOC from the control group with higher accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity than urinary biomarkers. Current observations from this study point out that the altered levels of circulating miRNAs can be a reliable novel, minimally invasive biological indicator of occupational exposure to VOCs.
authors.affiliation: Cellular and Molecular Toxicology Laboratory, Korea Institute of Science & Technology, P.O. Box 13, Cheongryang, Seoul 130-650, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Mi-Kyung
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Cellular and Molecular Toxicology Laboratory, Korea Institute of Science & Technology, P.O. Box 13, Cheongryang, Seoul 130-650, Republic of Korea; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Human and Environmental Toxicology, Korea University of Science and Technology, Gajeong-Ro 217, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-350, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: ryujc@kist.re.kr.
authors.forename: Jae-Chun
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Ryu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D001555:Benzene Derivatives / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D014050:Toluene / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D014992:Xylenes / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D001555:Benzene Derivatives; D015415:Biomarkers; D035683:MicroRNAs; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds; D014992:Xylenes; D014050:Toluene; C004912:ethylbenzene
keywords: Biomarker; Microarray; Volatile organic compounds; microRNA