Biomarcadores de exposición a plaguicidas / Occupational pesticide exposure and their association with effect biomarkers

La exposición a plaguicidas, durante todas las etapas de su uso, puede tener efectos adversos en la salud y el medio ambiente. Estos efectos no siempre están relacionados con lesiones inmediatas y aparentes, sino que pueden tardar incluso años en manifestarse. La utilización de biomarcadores en estudios epidemiológicos, como son las evaluaciones de daño genético, permiten la detección temprana de un riesgo incrementado de desarrollar diversas patologías, definiendo estados de prepatogénesis, como neoplasias, problemas reproductivos, malformaciones y enfermedades cardiovasculares. Los estudios de biomonitoreo en poblaciones agrícolas publicados desde la década de los años 70 indican resultados muy diversos, dada la amplia variedad de biomarcadores citogenéticos analizados y la heterogeneidad de las poblaciones incluidas en dichos estudios. En etapas previas de esta investigación se han descripto factores personales y contextuales vinculados con la exposición a plaguicidas entre trabajadores agrícolas, diseñado escalas de exposición a plaguicidas y descripto condiciones de salud percibida por agroaplicadores terrestres de la Provincia de Córdoba. Este trabajo presenta biomarcadores de daño citogenético, aportando nuevos elementos para la detección de grupos de riesgo, la comprensión de la red causal de las patologías asociadas a tales exposiciones y proponer herramientas preventivas. (AU)

Exposure to pesticides, during all stages of use, may have adverse effects on health and the environment. These effects are not always related to immediate and apparent injuries, but may even take years to manifest. The use of biomarkers in epidemiological studies, such as evaluations of genetic damage, allow the early detection of an increased risk of developing various pathologies, defining states of prepathogenesis, such as neoplasms, problems Reproductive, malformations and cardiovascular diseases. Biomonitoring Studies in agricultural populations published since the decade of the years 70 indicate very different results, given the wide variety of cytogenetic biomarkers analyzed and the heterogeneity of the populations included in these studies. In previous stages of this research have described personal and contextual factors linked to pesticide exposure among agricultural workers, designed scales of exposure to pesticides and described health conditions perceived by agrochemicals applicators of the province of Cordoba. This paper presents biomarkers of cytogenetic damage, providing new elements for the detection of risk groups, understanding the causal network of pathologies associated with such exhibits and proposing preventive tools. (AU)

Artificial sweetener consumption and urinary tract tumors in Cordoba, Argentina.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of the habitual use of the most common artificial sweeteners (AS) in the development of urinary tract tumors (UTT) in Argentina. METHODS: Case-control study of 197 patients with histologically confirmed UTT of transitional varieties, and 397 controls with acute, non-neoplastic, and non-urinary tract diseases, admitted to the same hospitals in Córdoba (Argentina) between 1999 and 2006. All subjects were interviewed about their use of AS and their exposure to other known or suspected risk factors for UTT. RESULTS: Fifty-one UTT patients (26%) and 87 controls (22%) used AS. The risk of UTT was significantly increased in long-term (> or =10 years) AS users compared with none-AS users. The OR (95% CI) for long-term consumers was 2.18 (1.22-3.89) and for short-term users was 1.10 (0.61-2.00) after adjustment for age, gender, BMI, social status. and years of tobacco use. CONCLUSION: Regular use of AS for 10 years or more was positively associated with UTT.

Reproducibility and validity of a food-frequency questionnaire in assessing dietary intakes and food habits in epidemiological cancer studies in Argentina.

A Food-Frequency questionnaire (FFQ) is the method chosen for estimating dietary intake in epidemiological studies because it can provide valid and reliable estimates of usual intake in a variety of populations. Colorectal cancer is associated with diet but no information about validity and reproducibility of dietary exposure assessment is available in Argentina. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the validity and reproducibility of the FFQ used in assessing the relationship between dietary intake and colorectal cancer. Selected nutrient intake, measured by two interviewer-administered FFQs, was compared with average intake derived from using four 24 hour dietary recalls (DR) as the reference method, for 62 control subjects from Córdoba, Argentina. Pearson's product-moment and Spearman correlation coefficients were used. Nutrient intakes were adjusted for energy, sex and age using tertiles of residuals from regression models. Weighted and unweighted kappa statistics were calculated for both FFQs versus DR. The mean correlation coefficients between DR and FFQs were 0.74. Agreement measurement (Kappa) varied from 0.51 to 0.74 for FFQ1 vs. FFQ2 to between 0.71 and 0.87 for FFQ1 and FFQ2. This study demonstrates an acceptable validity and reproducibility for this FFQ. The pattern of the correlation coefficients found in the present study indicates that the FFQ can provide an acceptable assessment of long-term dietary intake in the Argentine population and in other Latin-american areas.

Alcohol, methylxanthine-containing beverages, and colorectal cancer in Córdoba, Argentina.

The relationship between social class indicators, body mass index (BMI), selected life-style habits (alcohol, coffee, maté and tea drinking) and colorectal cancer was investigated in a case-control study conducted between 1993 and 1997 in Córdoba, Argentina, a relatively high mortality area of colorectal cancer. Cases were 190 patients below age 80 years with incident, histologically confirmed colorectal adenocarcinomas, and controls were 393 patients admitted to hospital for a wide spectrum of acute, non-neoplastic disorders. Higher social class, based on occupation of the head of the household, was significantly associated with colorectal cancer risk: the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were 1.9 (1.2-2.9) for intermediate and 2.0 (1.2-3.4) for the highest as compared to the lowest social class individuals. When compared with subjects whose BMI was < 25 kg/m2, the OR was 1.1 (0.7-1.6) for those with BMI 25 to 29 kg/m2, and 1.3 (0.7-2.3) for those > or = 30. In comparison with alcohol abstainers, the OR was 2.8 (1.6-5.1) for drinkers, and there was a significant trend in risk with dose. The association was observed with wine (the most common alcoholic beverage in Argentina), as well as for beer and spirits. The consumption of coffee, maté and tea was not significantly related to colorectal cancer, but the ORs were below unity (0.9 (0.7-1.3) for coffee, 0.9 (0.6-1.2) for maté and 0.8 (0.6-1.2) for tea drinkers). The relationship between social class, alcohol drinking and colorectal cancer were consistent across strata of sex and age. This study confirms that colorectal cancer has positive social class correlates. The association with alcohol drinking is apparently stronger than previously reported, and may be due to the role of chance and/or peculiar correlates of alcohol drinking in this Argentinean population.

[Composition of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids of foods frequently consumed in Argentina]. / Composición de ácidos grasos saturados e insaturados en alimentos de consumo frecuente en Argentina.

The composition of food lipid, including total lipids, saturated, monosaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids was analysed in this study. Foods, which were frequently consumed in Argentina and include in this study were: lean and fatty red meats, "ossobucco" with or without bone marrow, lean and skinned chicken meager and fatty fish, several sausages (salami and blood sausage), several crackers, hand-made fatty bread, fried and baked biscuits, ice cream, milk-marmelade, edible oils and bovine tallow. The content of fatty acids grouped according to their families in the food and description of the formulation of each food are given in the current paper. The glossary will help to identify the preparation of foods and will be beneficial for the people in other countries of Latinoamérica.

Effects of 9-OH-ellipticine on cell survival, macromolecular syntheses, and cell cycle progression in sensitive and resistant Chinese hamster lung cells.

In an effort to understand the mechanism of action of the DNA-intercalating antitumor agent 9-hydroxyellipticine (9-OH-E), we have examined the effects of this drug on the cell survival, macromolecular syntheses, and cell cycle progression in sensitive and resistant cells. Our results show that 9-OH-E toxicity on sensitive and resistant cells involves different mechanisms of action: the drug toxicity in the sensitive cells appears to result from lethal lesions mediated through the interaction of the drug with an intracellular protein, independently of any effect of the drug on the macromolecular syntheses; in the resistant cells, the cell death occurs concomitantly with the inhibition of these syntheses. Cell cycle progression analysis after 9-OH-E treatment showed that, in the sensitive cells, the drug is inducing a G1 and a G2 block, which are both released in the presence of 1 mM caffeine, without any effect on the 9-OH-E toxicity. In the resistant cells, a G2 block was also observed but only when the cells were resuming their growth after about a 30- to 40-h growth arrest. Caffeine release of this block, which again had no effect on 9-OH-E toxicity, was only observed when it was added from 40 to 60 h after 9-OH-E treatment, when the cells resumed their growth. Finally in the sensitive cells, cycloheximide exerted an inhibitory effect on 9-OH-E toxicity when it was added before and during the cell exposure to the drug. This effect was interpreted as indicating that 9-OH-E toxicity in the sensitive cells relies on a protein which is not induced by the drug but has to be present in the cells when the drug is added. The possible implication of DNA topoisomerases in 9-OH-E toxicity mechanism is discussed.