Carcinogen: DNA adducts in tobacco smoke-associated cancer of the upper respiratory tract.

Mortality connected with tobacco smoke-associated laryngeal cancer in Poland markedly exceeds the relevant epidemiological data from other European countries. The main groups of genotoxic agents considered as potential carcinogens present in tobacco smoke are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, aromatic amines, N-nitrosoamines and reactive oxygen species. Aromatic DNA adducts, N7-alkylated guanosines and oxidative DNA damage derived from tobacco smoke exposure were detected in laryngeal and oral (tumour and non-tumour) biopsies, and white blood cells of cancer subjects. Further, DNA lesions were analysed to estimate the significance of such confounders as intensity of smoking, subject's sex, age, topography of larynx, cancer staging and genetic factor. The number of cigarettes smoked per day was found to be the main determinant of an individual's DNA adduct level. The occurrence of DNA lesions was established as a reliable marker of former exposure to tobacco smoke genotoxicants. On the other hand, a comparison of DNA lesion levels in various regions of larynx indicates limited usefulness of DNA adduct analysis as an estimate of cancer risk. For a better risk estimation one has to take into account DNA lesions in proto-oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes and the efficacy of DNA repair. Altogether, DNA adducts formation and removal has to be considered as a single stage in the multistep carcinogenesis.

In vitro studies on the genotoxicity of the organophosphorus insecticide malathion and its two analogues.

Malathion [S-(1,2-dicarboethoxyethyl)O,O-dimethyl phosphorodithioate] is a commonly used organophosphorus insecticide reported to be genotoxic both in vivo and in vitro, but the reports are conflicting. In order to elucidate the genotoxic potency of the main compounds present in commercial preparations of malathion, the DNA-damaging effect of this insecticide, its major metabolite malaoxon [S-(1,2-dicarboethoxyethyl)O,O-dimethyl phosphorothiolate] and its isomer isomalathion [S-(1,2-dicarboethoxyethyl)O,S-dimethyl phosphorodithioate], all at purity of at least 99.8%, was investigated by use of the alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay). Freshly isolated human peripheral blood lymphocytes were incubated with 25, 75 and 200 microM of the chemicals for 1 h at 37 degrees C. The concentrations used are comparable to those found in blood following various non-lethal human exposures to pesticides. Malathion did not cause any significant changes in the comet length of the lymphocytes, throughout the range of concentrations tested. Malaoxon and isomalathion introduced damage to DNA in a dose-dependent manner. The effect induced by malaoxon was more pronounced than that caused by isomalathion. Treated cells were able to recover within a 60-min incubation in insecticide-free medium at 37 degrees C except the lymphocytes exposed to malaoxon at 200 microM, which did not show measurable DNA repair. The latter result suggests a considerable cytotoxic effect (cell death) of malaoxon at the highest concentration used. The reported genotoxicity of malathion might, therefore, be a consequence of its metabolic biotransformation to malaoxon or the presence of malaoxon and/or isomalathion as well as other unspecified impurities in commercial formulations of malathion. In this regard, the results of our study clearly indicate that malathion used as commercial product, i.e., containing malaoxon and isomalathion, can be considered as a genotoxic substance in vitro. This means that it may also produce DNA disturbances in vivo, such as DNA breakage at sites of oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes, thus playing a role in the induction of malignancies in individuals exposed to this agent. Therefore, malathion can be regarded as a potential mutagen/carcinogen and requires further investigation.

Genotoxicity of inhalation anesthetics halothane and isoflurane in human lymphocytes studied in vitro using the comet assay.

The alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis (comet) assay was applied to study genotoxic properties of two inhalation anesthetics-halothane and isoflurane-in human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL). The cells were exposed in vitro to either halothane (2-bromo-2-chloro-1,1,1-trifluoroethane) or isoflurane (1-chloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl difluoromethyl ether) at concentrations 0.1-10 mM in DMSO. The anesthetics-induced DNA strand breaks as well as alkali-labile sites were measured as total comet length (i.e., increase of a DNA migration). Both analysed drugs were capable of increasing DNA migration in a dose-dependent manner. In experiments conducted at two different electrophoretic conditions (0. 56 and 0.78 V/cm), halothane was able to increase DNA migration to a higher extent than isoflurane. The comet assay detects DNA strand breaks induced directly by genotoxic agents as well as DNA degradation due to cell death. For this reason a contribution of toxicity in the observed effects was examined. We tested whether the exposed PBL were able to repair halothane- and isoflurane-induced DNA damage. The treated cells were incubated in a drug-free medium at 37 degrees C for 120 min to allow processing of the induced DNA damage. PBL exposed to isoflurane at 1 mM were able to complete repair within 60 min whereas for halothane a similar result was obtained at a concentration lower by one order of magnitude: the cells exposed to halothane at 1 mM removed the damage within 120 min only partly. We conclude that the increase of DNA migration induced in PBL by isoflurane at 1 mM and by halothane at 0.1 mM was not a result of cell death-associated DNA degradation but was caused by genotoxic action of the drugs. The DNA damage detected after the exposure to halothane at 1 mM was in part a result of DNA fragmentation due to cell death.

Bleomycin-induced DNA damage and its removal in lymphocytes of breast cancer patients studied by comet assay.

The studies concerned the response to bleomycin treatment in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of breast cancer (BC) subjects. The level of BLM-induced DNA strand breaks was evaluated using alkaline comet assay followed by visual scoring. The sensitivity to genotoxic exposure as well as the time-course of damage removal were estimated and analysed in comparison to control (healthy) subjects. Despite high inter-individual variability, the differences between the BC and non-cancer groups still proved to be statistically significant. Lymphocytes of the BC subjects appeared to be more sensitive to BLM exposure as shown by higher level of DNA damage. The DNA repair capacity was weaker in PBL obtained from BC patients than that in lymphocytes of controls.