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Background Prolonged awkward postures during occupational activities can lead to excessive musculoskeletal load on the wrist of workers and symptoms such as wrist pain or discomfort. Objective To survey the prevalence of wrist pain among workers in 10 key industries and analyze its correlation with wrist working postures. Methods By using stratified cluster sampling method, workers from 10 key industries, such as footwear manufacturing industry, shipbuilding manufacturing industry, and automobile manufacturing industry, were selected from seven regions in North China, East China, Central China, South China, Southwest China, Northwest China, and Northeast China. The demographic information, wrist working postures, pain in wrist of the workers were collected through a cross-sectional survey. Pearson χ2 test was used to compare prevalence by selected factors, trend χ2 test for between group comparison, and unconditional logistic regression models for the association of wrist working postures with wrist pain. Results There were 64052 workers enrolled in this survey, and 56286 provided valid questionnaires (the effective rate was 87.8%). According to the survey, the prevalence of wrist pain was 23.3% (13112/56286), and the industries with higher prevalences were footwear manufacturing (27.1%, 1927/7106), automobile manufacturing (24.9%, 5378/21560), and shipbuilding and related equipment manufacturing (24.4%, 850/3488) industries. Finger pinching (OR=2.09, 95%CI: 1.95-2.24), frequent wrist bending (OR=2.03, 95%CI: 1.92-2.15), fixed wrist bending (OR=1.77, 95%CI: 1.69-1.85), wrist on hard edge (OR=1.34, 95%CI: 1.28-1.40), and arms over shoulders (OR=1.11, 95%CI: 1.05-1.17) increased the risk of reporting wrist pain. Conclusion Awkward postures are related to wrist pain among workers in selected 10 key industries. The related factors are wrist on hard edge, frequent wrist bending, finger pinching, fixed wrist bending, and arms over shoulders.
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Objective: To analyze the current status of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), work fatigue and musculoskeletal pain in Chinese occupational population, and to study the relationship between work fatigue and musculoskeletal pain and WMSDs. Methods: A total of 66 961 employees from 323 enterprises in 15 key industries in China were selected as the study subjects using stratified cluster sampling method. The incidence of WMSDs in the past year was investigated using the Chinese version of the Musculoskeletal Disorders Questionnaire, and the work fatigue and musculoskeletal pain were investigated using Borg 6-20 Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale and visual analogue scale. The data were standardized using the age composition data of 18 to 60 years from the seventh national population census. Results: The standardized annual incidence of WMSDs was higher in the front-line workers than that in the administrative and other supportive staff (38.82% vs 36.30%). The detection rates of work fatigue and musculoskeletal pain in the study subjects were 44.54% and 63.08%, respectively. The result of S-curve fitting showed that the risk of WMSDs increased with the level of work fatigue (P<0.01). Among the front-line workers, the average of monthly fatigue frequency in the neck, shoulder, lower back, upper back, wrist/hand, foot and ankle, knee, leg, and elbow were higher in the group with WMSDs compared to those without WMSDs (all P<0.01). The pain degree of musculoskeletal pain was higher in all nine sites in the fatigued group than in the no-fatigue group (all P<0.01). The standardized detection rate of musculoskeletal pain was higher in the fatigued group than in the non-fatigued group (80.38% vs 25.71%). The work fatigue was moderate and positively correlated with musculoskeletal pain in all seven sites except the lower back and elbow, with Kendall Tau-b correlation coefficients ranging from 0.423 to 0.546 (all P<0.01). Conclusion: There is a good correlation between work fatigue and local musculoskeletal pain, work fatigue and WMSDs in Chinese occupational population. Implementing ergonomic interventions to control the development of work fatigue can be an effective measure for preventing WMSDs.
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Objective To investigate the micronucleus rate of peripheral blood lymphocytes in radiation workers exposed to chronic low dose ionizing radiation in Jiangsu province to adopt corresponding protective measures. Methods From January to December 2019, 504 in-service radiation workers were taken as the radiation group, 105 healthy adults who were to be engaged in radiation work by pre-job occupational health examination were served as the control group. We compared the micronucleus rate of peripheral blood lymphocytes measured by conventional culture. Results The micronucleus rate in the radiation group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.001) and the micronucleus rate in the female radiation workers was higher than that in the male (P < 0.01); The difference of micronucleus rate in different age groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05), among which aged 41～50 years being higher than that of those aged 21～30 years. Besides, The difference of micronucleus rate between different working age groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05), with higher rates in the 21～30 year range than in the 0～10 year range. (P < 0.05). Differential micronucleus rates among different types of work were statistically significant (P < 0.01), with the highest rate of micronucleus among staff in radiotherapy positions compared to other positions. What’s more, the highest rate of micronucleus among radiology staff in units of different levels was found in municipal hospitals, with statistically significant differences in micronucleus rates between provincial hospitals, enterprises (P < 0.05) and municipal hospitals (P < 0.01). Conclusion The micronucleus rate of radiation workers was significantly higher than that of non-contact personnel, and the micronucleus rate of female radiation workers is higher than that of men. Moreover, the highest rate was found among radiation workers. Therefore, radiation protection and daily management of this population should be strengthened.
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Background Hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] can induce malignant transformation of lung epithelial cells, but its molecular mechanism is still unclear. Objective This study aims to explore the key genes of Cr(VI)-induced malignant transformation of lung epithelial cells and the mechanism of the transformation by bioinformatics analysis. Methods High-throughput gene expression profile data related to Cr(VI)-induced toxic effect was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO) database, and the co-expressed genes were obtained by the intersection of differentially expressed genes in each dataset. DAVID 6.8 was used to analyze the function enrichment of gene ontology(GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) pathways of the selected differential expression genes. STRING, and Cytoscape 3.8.2 were applied to construct and visualize the protein-protein interaction network. The expressions of Hub genes in lung tumor were obtained by GEPIA2. Results A total of 234 differentially expressed genes were screened out from the GSE24025 and GSE36684 datasets, among which 99 genes were up-regulated while 135 genes were down-regulated. The results of GO and KEGG analyse were mainly concentrated in cell adhesion, negative regulation of cell proliferation, and transcription disorders. A rotein-protein interaction network was generated by STRING database and Cytoscape software. Four functional modules with high scores and 6 Hub genes were finally retrieved. The expression trend of FBLN1 in lung cancer subtypes was consistent with the results of transcriptome screening. Conclusion Cr(VI) exposure causes the differential expression of multiple genes in lung epithelial cells, involving cell morphology, movement, survival fate, phenotype function and signal pathway related to cancer development. FBLN1 may be the critical gene related to malignant cytopathy.
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OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of long-term low-level lead load on the immune function of occupationally exposed workers. METHODS: The convenient sampling method was used to select 57 lead-exposed workers as the observation group.These workers had the blood lead level of ≥300 μg/L and <400 μg/L.They worked in a battery plant from 2009 to 2018. Another 61 none-lead exposed logistical personnel with blood lead level of <100 μg/L were selected as the control group. The blood lead levels and immune function indicators were detected in these 2 groups, including serum immunoglobulin(Ig)G, IgA, IgM, complement(C) 3, C4, C-reactive protein(CRP), tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-α) level, blood intermediate cell(MID) count and MID ratio(MID%).The abnormal rates of the above immune indexes were calculated. RESULTS: The median blood lead level in the observation group was 338 μg/L. The levels of IgA(M: 2.3 vs 1.9 g/L), C3 [(10.8 ± 1.7) vs(10.1±1.5) mg/L] and C4(M: 2.6 vs 2.3 mg/L) of observation group decrease(P<0.05), the abnormal rate of IgG increased(1.6% vs 14.0%, P<0.05), compared with the control group. The other immune indexes of these two groups were compared, and the differences showed no statistical significance(P>0.05). Blood lead level was negatively correlated with C3 level and positively correlated with TNF-α level(Spearman correlation coefficients were-0.20, 0.19, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Low level lead might have an impact on the immune system of lead-exposed workers.
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Objective@#To analyze the characteristics and patterns of occupational pneumoconiosis in Jiangsu Province, China, from 2006 to 2017, and to provide a scientific basis for government departments to develop effective interventions and preventive strategies against occupational pneumoconiosis.@*Methods@#The data of 9327 patients with occupational pneumoconiosis were retrieved from the online report of occupational pneumoconiosis in Jiangsu Province from 2006 to 2017. Excel worksheet and SPSS 20.0 software were used to organize and analyze the data, respectively. An epidemiological statistical analysis was performed on age of onset, length of dust exposure, type of work, industry category, type of pneumoconiosis, annual incidence of pneumoconiosis, regional distribution, enterprise scale, and economic category in those patients.@*Results@#A total of 9 327 patients with occupational pneumoconiosis were reported in Jiangsu Province from 2006 to 2017. In those patients, 8 559 were newly diagnosed and 768 had advanced disease. The male-female ratio was 16.34:1.Patients with stage I pneumoconiosis(6 994, 74.99%) were dominant in all the patients. The mean age of onset and length of dust exposure were 58.5±10.7 and 15.3±10.9 years, respectively. Most of the patients (6 012, 64.46%) had an age of onset between 50 and 69 years. For the length of dust exposure, the highest percentage was observed in patients exposed for no more than 5 years (2 231, 23.92%).The largest number of patients diagnosed with pneumoconiosis(1 200, 12.87%) was reported in 2010. Most of the patients(7 012, 75.18%) were from four cities, i.e, Wuxi (2 090, 22.41%), Yancheng (1 987, 21.30%), Suzhou (1 552, 16.64%), and Xuzhou (1 383, 14.83%). In all the patients, the incidence of silicosis (6791, 72.81%) was highest, followed by coal worker pneumoconiosis (1 364, 14.62%) and electric welder pneumoconiosis (563, 6.04%).Pneumoconiosis complicated by tuberculosis was found in 28 (0.3%) patients.A total of 1616 (17.33%) patients were reported in health, social security, and social welfare industries, while 1474 (15.80%) patients worked for coal mining and washing. Rock drillers (2 818, 30.21%) were dominant in those patients.State-owned economic enterprises reported the largest number of patients(5 441, 58.34%).Patients from small enterprises (4 323, 46.35%) had the highest percentage.@*Conclusion@#Pneumoconiosis is an occupational disease with a high incidence in Jiangsu Province. Pneumoconiosis patients show an industry- and job-centered distribution. The length of dust exposure is decreasing.
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Objective@#To investigate the qualifications current situations of the medical and health institutions and certified doctors for providing occupational disease diagnosis in Jiangsu Province to provide reference for occupational disease prevention and control.@*Methods@#Quantitative and qualitative analysis was carried out on 28 institutionsfor occupational disease diagnosis and 1 278 certified doctors for occupational disease diagnosis in Jiangsu Province between 2012 and 2017, announcement from Jiangsu provincial commission of health and family planning commission, SPSS16.0 was used for statistical analysis.@*Results@#By the end of 2017, there had been 28 medical and health institutions which were qualified for providing occupational disease diagnosis in Jiangsu Province, including 16 centers for disease control and prevention, accounting for 57.14%, 6 general hospitals, accounting for 21.42%, and 6 institutes or centers for occupational disease prevention and control, accounting for 21.42%; a total of 313 occupational disease diagnosis were employed in these 28 diagnostic institutions, with 9.4 certified doctors on average in each institution; In addition, 17.86% of the institutions get all the qualifications for diagnosing 10 occupational diseases, and 10.71% of the institutions get the qualification for diagnosing one tothree occupational diseases. A total of 1278 physicians obtain the qualification of certified doctors for occupational disease diagnosis, the largest number was 221 in Wuxi city, at least 16 in Zhenjiang city, including 599 centers for disease control and prevention, accounting for 46.87%, 118 institutes or centers for occupational disease prevention and control, accounting for 9.23%, 304 general hospitals, accounting for 23.79%, 257 enterprise-owned hospitals, accounting for 20.11%; The highest number of occupational poisoning diagnoses was obtained, accounting for 796 (62.28%) .@*Conclusion@#A provincial occupational disease diagnosis network has been established in Jiangsu, but it is far from covering all districts and counties, and the imbalance in regional distribution and specialty programs still exists among the qualified medical and health institutions and certified doctors. It is essential to further strengthen the training of qualified doctors and the development of qualified medical and health institutions.
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Objective@#To investigate the association between the single nucleotide polymorphisms of rs12212067 in FOXO3 gene and the susceptibility to occupational noise-induced deafness in a Chinese Han population.@*Methods@#A total of 1 066 cases of noise exposure workers from a large chemical fiber factory in Jiangsu Province were selected as the study subjects. All subjects’ basic data and field exposure data were collected through questionnaires and occupational health surveys. The subjects were divided into case group (531 persons, double ear high frequency average hearing threshold>25 dB) and control group (535 persons, double ear high frequency average hearing threshold≤25 dB) according to their results of pure tone hearing test .2ml fasting venous blood was collected for DNA extraction and genotyping was performed by TaqMan-PCR technique.@*Results@#Genotyping results suggested that the GT+GG genotype is a risk factor for occupational noise-induced deafness, with an adjusted OR 95% confidence interval of 2.044 (1.51-2.78) . After the noise exposure intensity was stratified, the adjusted OR values and the 95% confidence intervals of noise intensity ≤85, 85-92 and>92 dB respectively 2.43 (1.52-3.90) , 2.17 (1.03-4.59) and 1.74 (1.07-2.83) .@*Conclusion@#GT-GG genotype in rs12212067 of FOXO3 gene may be a risk factor for occupational noise-induced deafness.
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Objective@#To investigate the reproductive health status of female workers in the machinery industry and to analysis the effect of workload on their reproductive health.@*Methods@#5 732 female mechanical workers were selected and investigated by the Female Workers' Reproductive Health Questionnaire, which was printed by the occupational health and poisoning control institute of China CDC to collect the information about the reproductive health status of from March to December in 2016.@*Results@#The rate of abnormal menstruation was 27.15%, and the rate of gynecological diseases of female workers was 34.39%. The menstruation abnormality and gynecological diseases rate of female workers with high workload was higher than that female workers with low workload (both P<0.01) . High workload was the independent the risk factor associated with the menstruation abnormality (OR=1.88, 95%CI: 1.54~2.31, P<0.01) and gynecological diseases (OR=1.97, 95% CI: 1.61~2.40, P<0.01) .@*Conclusion@#The workload has a large impact on the reproductive health status of female workers.
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Objective@#ICMM occupational health risk assessment model was be used to evaluate the risk of a lead-acid battery enterprise. @*Methods@#In November 2016, a lead-acid battery company in Jiangsu Province was selected as the research object. Based on the occupational health survey data and occupational hazard assessment reports, the ICMM risk assessment model was used to conduct occupational health risks in eight key positions of a lead-acid battery enterprise. The risk assessment results was verified by actual test results. @*Results@#In the quantitative assessment model, the occupational health risk assessment results for the castings and welding positions exposed to lead smoke, and the occupational health risk assessment results for the grinding and dividing positions exposed to lead dust existed unacceptable risks. The occupational health risk assessment results for the ball-milled and plated positions exposed to lead dust existed tolerable risks. The occupational health risk assessment results for the lead-plated and soldered positions exposed to sulphuric acid pastes and acids existed potential risks. In qualitative evaluation matrix method, the occupational health risk assessment results for the castings and welding positions exposed to lead smoke, and the occupational health risk assessment results for the grinding and dividing positions exposed to lead dust existed high risks, the occupational health risk assessment results for other four key positions were considered to be with low risks. @*Conclusion@#The key control points for lead smoke in this enterprise were castings and welding positions; The key control points for lead dust were the grinding and separating brush positions. The quantitative assessment model and the qualitative assessment matrix method in the ICMM model were consistent with the actual test results in the eight health risk assessments of occupational hazards in key positions. Therefore, the method could be applied to the assessment of occupational health risks of the lead-acid battery enterprise. According to the results of the assessment, improvements could be made to high-risk positions and the concentration of occupational hazards in high-risk posts could be reduced to better protect the health of workers.
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OBJECTIVE: To compare the applicability of three risk assessment methods on occupational health risk assessment of chemical harmful factors in lead-acid battery manufacturers. METHODS: The convenient sampling method was used to select six lead-acid battery enterprises as research subjects. The occupational health risks of jobs with lead smoke,lead dust and sulfuric acid were determined by contact ratio method,comprehensive index method( both are semiquantitative evaluation method) and qualitative risk assessment method. The assessment was carried out,and the obtained risk level was standardized as the risk ratio. The evaluation results of these three methods were compared. RESULTS: For occupational health risk levels of lead smoke,lead dust and sulfuric acid,the contact ratio assessment method were 2-4,and the comprehensive index method were 2-3. The risk ratios after standardization were consistent with the risk level of that before standardization. The result of the qualitative risk assessment method was 2-3,and the standardized risk ratio was 3-4. The risk ratio of each post after standardization increased by one level compared with the risk level before standardization. When( Exposure limit concentration,E)/( Occupational exposure limit,OEL) ≥ 2,the occupational health risk levels of lead smoke,lead dust of qualitative risk assessment method and the contact ratio method were completely consistent,both of which were high risk,which were higher than the medium risk result of the comprehensive index method. When E/OEL < 2,Kappa analysis results showed that the contact ratio method and the comprehensive index method were in good agreement( Kappa = 0. 84,P < 0. 01). The qualitative risk assessment method were inconsistent with the contact ratio method and the comprehensive index method( Kappa value were -0. 22 and -0. 24). CONCLUSION: For occupational health risk assessment of chemical harmful factors in lead-acid battery manufacturers,the comprehensive index method could be used to evaluate the comprehensive results of occupational disease hazard factors and OEL in workplace. A qualitative risk assessment method can be used for assessment without test method or OEL of occupational hazard factor.
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Objective@#To investigate the incidence of occupational diseases in a province of China during the period of "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" , and to analyze the features of disease spectrum, the characteristics of regional and industrial distribution, and incidence trend.@*Methods@#Data (2011-2015) were collected from the Information System of Occupational Diseases and Occupational Health to analyze the reported cases of occupational diseases during the period of "Twelfth Five-Year Plan". A statistical analysis was performed to identify the characteristics of the disease distribution in terms of sex, age, working years, enterprise type, enterprise scale, and region, as well as the incidence trend.@*Results@#The overall incidence of occupational diseases in this province fluctuated and decreased gradually. There were a total of 5036 new cases of occupational diseases during the period of "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" ; 89.45% of them were male, and 69.78% of them were aged 40-69 years; the most frequently seen occupational diseases were pneumoconiosis (72.48%) and ear, nose, throat, and oral diseases (7.23%). Most cases of pneumoconiosis occurred after 5-10 years of exposure, and other occupational diseases usually developed within 10 years of exposure. New cases of occupational diseases were often seen in small and micro enterprises, as well as Wuxi, Suzhou, and Yancheng.@*Conclusion@#During the period of "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" , the incidence of occupational diseases in this province decreased gradually, indicating improved control of occupational diseases, but we still need to pay attention to the high-risk population (male, aged over 40 years) , as well as the prevention of occupational noise-induced hearing loss, and to strengthen the supervision of small and micro enterprises.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the lead exposure, its effects, and the relationships between biomarkers of susceptibility in the workers with low-level occupational lead exposure, and to explore its sensitivity and practical value to evaluate the health hazard.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The concentrations of lead fume and lead dust in workplaces of a lead acid storage battery enterprise in Jiangsu Province, China, were measured by occupational health monitoring method. The blood samples of 233 workers with occupational lead exposure and 76 non-occupational lead exposure were collected to measure the blood lead (Pb-B) level using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS), the zinc Protoporphyrin (ZPP) level with blood fluorescence assay, and the delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) concentration by a spectrophotometer, and to determine the gene polymorphism of ALAD with TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction. At the same time, their urine samples were collected to measure urine lead (Pb-U) concentration with GFAAS and delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA-U) concentration with a spectrophotometer. The correlations between the above indices were analyzed by multiple linear regression method.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The concentration of lead fume in 18 testing sites and the concentration of lead dust in 30 testing sites were 0.002-0.019 mg/m3 and 0.004-0.013 mg/m3, respectively. Pb-B level was positively correlated with Pb-U concentration (r=0.62, P<0.01) and ZPP level (r=0.47, P<0.01) and was negatively correlated with ALAD concentration (r=-0.77, P<0.01) in 233 workers with occupational lead exposure. Among 233 workers, 218 (93.6%) had ≤70 µg/L Pb-U, and 15 (6.9%) had ≥400≥g/L Pb-B. Pb-B level was not correlated with ZPP level as Pb-B level was <190 µg/L (r=0.18, P=0.068 ), while Pb-B level was positively correlated with ZPP level as Pb-B level was ≥190 µg/L (r=0.36, P<0.01). Pb-U concentration was positively correlated with ALA-U concentration (r=0.49, P<0.01) and ZPP level (r=0.47, P<0.01). ZPP level was negatively correlated with ALAD concentration (r=-0. 19, P<0.01), and was positively correlated with ALA-U concentration (r=0.27, P<0.01). ALAD concentration was not correlated with ALA-U concentration (r =-0. 11, P>0.05). And in 233 workers with occupational lead exposure, there were no significant differences in Pb-B level, ZPP level, and ALAD activity between the workers with ALAD1-2 genotype and the workers with ALAD1-1 genotype (P>0.05). In 76 workers with non-occupational lead exposure, there was no significant difference in Pb-B level between the workers with ALAD1-2 genotype and the workers with ALAD1-1 genotype (P >0.05). The workers with ALAD1-2 genotype had a significantly lower ALAD activity, and a significantly higher ZPP level compared with those ALAD1-1 genotype (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>In the workers with low-level occupational lead exposure, ZPP level is positively correlated with Pb-B level when Pb-B level was ≥190 µ/L. ALAD could be used as an effect biomarker of low Pb-B level. ALAD gene polymorphism shows different effects on the Pb-B level and the toxic effects between the workers with occupational lead exposure and the workers with non-occupational lead exposure.</p>
Subject(s)
Humans , Aminolevulinic Acid , Blood , Biomarkers , Blood , China , Electric Power Supplies , Genotype , Lead , Blood , Linear Models , Occupational Exposure , Polymorphism, Genetic , Porphobilinogen Synthase , Blood , Genetics , Protoporphyrins , BloodABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the current status of carrying out the workplace health promotion (WHP) in the enterprises, and to provide a basis for formulation of relevant policies.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The enterprises that declared Jiangsu Provincial Health Promotion Demonstration Enterprise received on-site assessment by the expert group, including organization management and protection measures, health management, workplace, health, and cultural environment. And a questionnaire survey was performed. The data of evaluations were analyzed by SPSS 19.0.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In the last four years, 108 enterprises which had achieved the standard of Health Promotion Demonstration Enterprise were mainly distributed in Southern Jiangsu, including 34 (31.48%) large-sized enterprises, 58 (53.70%) medium-sized enterprises, and 16 (14.81%) small-sized enterprises. And there were 49 (45.37%) wholly foreign-owned enterprises. There were significant differences in the scores between different economic types of enterprises (F = 2.820, P = 0.014). The most deducted points were due to unqualified bulletin boards and warning label of occupation hazards, about 78 times (72.22%); 54.55% of the indices whose deduction rates were higher than 20% were related to occupational disease prevention and control.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Regions and economic types affect carrying out WHP in enterprises. The current priority is to standardize physical work environment in China. The professional technical level should be improved, and the government needs to redouble efforts to promote the WHP.</p>
Subject(s)
Humans , China , Health Promotion , Methods , Marketing of Health Services , Occupational Diseases , Occupational Health Services , Reference Standards , Program Evaluation , Surveys and Questionnaires , Workplace , Reference StandardsABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) (rs12984523, rs16999593, and rs2228612) and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) in Chinese Han population.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This case-control study consisted of 188 cases (case group) and 300 controls (control group) in the same working position, who were matched for age and gender. The cases had a binaural average high-frequency hearing threshold not less than 40 dB, and the controls had a binaural average high-frequency hearing threshold less than 40 dB. The genotypes at the three SNPs were determined by TaqMan probe.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>TT genotype at DNMT1 rs2228612 is a risk factor for NIHL (adjusted OR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.14-2.52).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The study of Chinese Han population suggested that DNMT1 rs2228612 is associated with susceptibility to NIHL.</p>
Subject(s)
Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Asian People , Genetics , Auditory Threshold , Case-Control Studies , DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferase 1 , DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases , Genetics , Genetic Predisposition to Disease , Genotype , Haplotypes , Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced , Genetics , Noise, Occupational , Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To find out and analyze differentially expressed miRNAs in the plasma of benzene exposed workers, and explore the potential roles of plasma miRNAs in the development of hematologic toxicity induced by benzene exposure.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>By individual matching, low blood cell group, unstable blood cell group and normal group of 10 benzene exposed workers in each group were taken as subjects. Microarray was used to find out differentially expressed miRNAs among three groups. Three miRNAs validated by real-time quantitative PCR. Target genes of 9 miRNAs with the high abundance and significant difference were predicted using Target scan, Picture and miRanda softwares. David 6.7 online platform was used to perform GO term enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis of those targets.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Microarray screened out that 138 miRNAs were differentially expressed. Three significant classes of differentially expressed miRNAs were found with the cluster analysis. The detected expressions of miR-638, let-7f-5p and miR-223-3p by relative RT-qPCR was consistent with the microarray date. Pathway analysis showed that the most enriched pathway was focal adhesion, with 6 potential functional targets, including SOS₂, VCL, CCND2, COL4A6, IGF1 and MAPK1.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>We have identified the plasma miRNA profile in benzene exposed workers, and further analysis indicates that focal adhesion-associated miRNAs play a potential role in hematologic toxicity induced by benzene exposure.</p>