PIG-A gene mutation as a genotoxicity biomaker in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-exposed barbecue workers

• Published in: Genes and environment Vol. 43; no. 1; pp. 54 - 9
• Main Authors: Cao, Yiyi, Xi, Jing, Tang, Chuanxi, Yang, Ziying, Liu, Weiying, You, Xinyue, Feng, Nannan, Zhang, Xin Yu, Wu, Jingui, Yu, Yingxin, Luan, Yang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 09.12.2021; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Assaying; Barbecue cookery; Beliefs, opinions and attitudes; Biomarkers; Carcinogens; Chi-square test; Cytokinesis; Employees; Erythrocytes; Exposure; Food service employees; Gene mutations; Genes; Genetic aspects; Genetic research; Genotoxicity; In vivo methods and tests; Lymphocyte cytokinesis-block micronucleus test; Lymphocytes; Metabolites; Micronuclei; Mutant frequency; Mutation; Occupational exposure; PIG-A assay; Point mutation; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Regression analysis; Restaurants; Risk analysis; Risk assessment; Risk factors; Statistical tests; Swine; Urine; United States > US; Lymphocyte cytokinesis-block micronucleus test; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; PIG-A assay; Genotoxicity
• ISSN: 1880-7046; 1880-7062
• DOI: 10.1186/s41021-021-00230-1

The PIG-A gene mutation assay is a valuable tool for measuring in vivo gene mutations in blood cells. The human PIG-A assay, used as a potential genotoxicity biomarker, is minimally invasive, sensitive, and cost-efficient; however, the relationship between carcinogen exposure and PIG-A mutations is not well understood. We investigated the genotoxic effect of red blood cells using PIG-A assay and lymphocyte cytokinesis-block micronucleus test in barbecue restaurant workers (N = 70) exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and self-identified healthy control subjects (N = 56). Urinary PAH metabolites were measured to evaluate internal exposure levels. Multivariate Poisson regression showed that the PAH-exposed workers exhibited significantly higher PIG-A mutant frequency (MF) (8.04 ± 6.81 × 10 ) than did the controls (5.56 ± 5.26 × 10 ) (RR = 0.707, 95% CI: 0.615-0.812, P < 0.001). These results indicate that PAH exposure is a risk factor for elevated PIG-A MF. The frequencies of micronuclei (MN) and nuclear buds (NBUD) in the PAH-exposed workers (MN: 3.06 ± 2.07 ‰, NBUD: 1.38 ± 1.02 ‰) were also significantly higher than in the controls (MN: 1.46 ± 0.64 ‰, P < 0.001; NBUD: 0.70 ± 0.60 ‰, P < 0.001). Additionally, PIG-A MFs showed better associations with several urinary hydroxylated PAH metabolites (P  = 0.032, r  = 0. 268; P  = 0.022, r  = 0.286; P  = 0.0312, r  = 0.270; P  = 0.018, r  = 0.296), while the increase in MN, NPB, and NBUD frequencies was not associated with any OH-PAH metabolites; and high-PAH-exposed workers showed the highest PIG-A MFs. Furthermore, there was a significant association between PIG-A MF and PAH exposure levels (Chi-square test for trend, P = 0.006). Our results indicate that an increase in PIG-A MF in barbecue workers could reflect the response to PAH exposure, providing evidence of its potential as a genotoxicity biomarker in human risk assessment.