Induction of sister chromatid exchanges in traffic policemen exposed to vehicular exhaust

In urban areas there is an explosive growth of population and the number of automobiles. The ever-increasing vehicular traffic density is posing continued threat to the ambient air quality. Traffic policemen as a group of workers are exposed occupationally to the pollutants from vehicular exhaust. Sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) as a biomarker of the pollutant's effect, were analyzed in peripheral blood lymphocytes of 85 traffic policemen and 60 control subjects. There was a significant increase in the mean SCEs+/-S.D./cell in the exposed group (9.31+/-5.29) when compared to the controls (4.18+/-1.85). Thus the present study concludes that vehicular exhaust might induce cytogenetic damage in traffic police. Further, the more pronounced frequency of SCEs observed in the smoking traffic policemen than in the non-smoking group suggests the joint effect of smoking and vehicular exhaust.     

Cytogenetic studies in a selected group of mentally retarded children

Summary Chromosomal abnormalities are an important cause of mental retardation. We studied the frequency of karyotype abnormalities in 74 mentally retarded patients selected from 306 patients referred to our clinic. Giemsa-banding was done on all cases. Additional studies in abnormal cases included autoradiography and X and Y chromatin. Karyotype analyses and blood group (Xg and Duffy) studies were carried out in family members in some cases.Fourteen of these children had chromosomal abnormalities, seven sex chromosomal, and seven had autosomal abnormalities. Three patients had 45,X and one had a 45,X/46,Xr(X) karyotype. Other sex chromosomal abnormalities were 46,XX/ 48,XXXX;48,XXXY/49,XXXXY; and 48,XXYY. Autosomal abnormalities were 46,XX,1q-;46,XY,2q-;46,XY,5p-;46,XY, dup(5p); 45,XX,t(13,14); and 46,XY,17p-. This is the first report from India of cytogenetic abnormalities in idiopathic mental retardation. The chromosomal studies in these patients help not only in accurate diagnosis, proper prognosis, and genetic counseling but also in gene localization and in the study of the origin of X-chromosome abnormalities.     

Cytogenetic study of a group of workers exposed to thinner

The frequency of sister-chromatid exchanges (SCE) was evaluated in a group of 24 workers exposed to thinner in a luminous advertisements factory and in three workshops for painting sheet metal in Mexico City. 50 metaphases for each exposed individual and each control were analysed; air samples of the working places were also studied; it was observed that among all the components of thinner, only benzene exceeded advisable limits. The cytogenetic data were subject to one-way analyses of variance indicating that no significant differences existed between both groups; also, there are no significant differences among workers with a long exposure time and those with fewer than 5 years of exposure. Nevertheless, use of tobacco increased significantly the SCE frequencies among the exposed group, but did not increase SCE in the control group.     

Cytogenetic biomonitoring in a Mexican floriculture worker group exposed to pesticides

The cytogenetic damage in floriculturists of Morelos State, Mexico, exposed to pesticides, was evaluated by mean of biological tests based on sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) in lymphocytes of peripheral blood and micronuclei (MN) in exfoliated cells of the buccal mucosa. Besides the cytogenetic analysis, the effects of pesticides exposure on the cell proliferation kinetics (CPK) by the replication index (RI) were also studied. The mitotic index (MI) to detect cytotoxic effects was also determined. Greenhouses of the towns of Santa Catarina, Jiutepec and Yecapixtla were selected for the study, because the application of chemicals to the flowers is uncontrolled. As non-exposed group, people of the town of Temisco were chosen; their activity was not related to pesticides. The SCE were analyzed in the peripheral blood of 30 persons, 22 women and 8 men, with 10 and 1.5 years of exposure to pesticides, respectively, and of 30 persons, 28 women and 2 men, that were considered as the non-exposed group. Samples of buccal mucosa were also taken from each person. Significant differences between exposed and non-exposed groups were found in SCE, CKP and MI. Besides, the MN frequencies in the exposed group were three times higher than in the non-exposed group.     

Cytogenetic effects of penicillamine

Penicillamine (PA), a drug used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis induces sister-chromatid exchanges (SCEs) and chromosome aberrations in cultivated mammalian cells. PA in concentrations from 400 micrograms/ml upward induced SCEs and proliferative delay in human blood cultures when added for the last 24 h of the culture period. In V79 Chinese hamster cells SCE induction was found after acute exposure to PA before the addition of BrdUrd and after chronic exposure during one cell cycle in the presence of BrdUrd. The effect of PA on SCE frequencies occurred both after treatment in complete medium and in serum-free medium and was not influenced by the application of an S9 mix. The simultaneous addition of peroxidase reduced the PA-induced SCEs whereas catalase did not show any effect. Chromosome analysis in the first mitosis after PA treatment revealed a significant increase in the incidence of chromosome aberrations and endoreduplication. The results are discussed with respect to the cause and the significance of the observed effects in connection with mutagenicity testing.     

Cytogenetic effects of inhaled ozone

We have repeated as closely as possible the experiments of Zelac et al., who observed significantly elevated levels of chromosome aberrations in short-term cultures of peripheral lymphocytes from Chinese hamsters that had inhaled ozone. Unlike Zelac et al., we observed no increase in chromosome-type aberration levels, though a small increase in chromatid-aberration levels similar to that reported for exposed human subjects by Merz et al. was seen. No increase in the levels of any chromosomal aberration type was seen in parallel direct bone-marrow preparations. Sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) levels and cell-replication rates, which were determined in the Chinese hamster peripheral lymphocyte cultures and also in bone-marrow samples from similarly treated mice, failed to show any ozone-induced changes.     

Sleepiness in a population of Italian shiftwork policemen

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of shiftwork on sleepiness, sleep disorders and sleep related accidents in a population of policemen. Data concerning age and physical characteristics, working conditions, sleep problems and accidents were collected by a questionnaire. Sleepiness was evaluated by the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) while the presence of sleep disorders was evaluated by a score (SD-score) drawn from indicators of insomnia, breathing disorders, periodic limb movements-restless leg syndrome and hypersomnia. The effects of age, gender, body mass index, working condition and seniority on ESS, SD-score and accidents were analysed by linear and logistic regression. Participants were 1280 policemen: 611 shiftworkers and 669 non-shiftworkers. The ESS scores were not higher in shiftworkers than in non-shiftworkers, but the SD-score was found to be significantly influenced by shiftwork condition and seniority. The occurrence of sleep-related accidents was found to have been significantly increased for shiftworkers and related to the presence of indicators of sleep disorders. The sleepiness could be underestimated or even overcome by the influence of stressing conditions. However our data should alert occupational health physicians for the diagnosis and prevention of possible lurking intrinsic sleep disorders likely to influence health problems and risk of accidents in shiftworkers.     

Cytogenetic effects of Cuman L, a dithiocarbamate fungicide

Cuman L, a dithiocarbamate fungicide, was assessed for its effects in the germ cells and the bone marrow erythrocytes of Swiss Albino male mice. The 3 sublethal doses of 350, 700 and 1050 mg/kg b.w. of Cuman L induced a significant (P less than 0.01) increase in the number of chromosomal aberrations in the germ cells. A significant increase (P less than 0.01) in the percentage of micronuclei in the erythrocytes was also induced by the three doses.     

Cytogenetic effects of chloroquine in a culture of human lymphocytes]

Chloroquine added to human lymphocyte culture at the G1 stage had no influcence on the chromosome aberration level in the concentration of 15 mug/ml and suppressed the mitotic activity of the cells almost completely in the concentration of 60 and 100 mug/ml. At the G2 stage chloroquine in the concentration of 15 mug/ml had no cytogenetic effect and in the concentration of 100 mug/ml -- it increased the number of chromosome aberrations significantly.     

Cytogenetic effects of hycanthone in the rat

Hycanthone methanesulfonate (HCT), a new drug used for the treatment of schistosomiasis, was examined for its ability to produce chromosomal abnormalities in rat bone marrow cells. Rats were given intraperitoneal injections of HCT at 40, 80, or 100 mg/kg and were killed at 6, 24, or 48 h. All levels produced a significant increase cells with abnormalities at all three time periods. There was a significant linear relationship between arithmetic dose and the proportion of cells affected. Based on two of the three experiments peformed, assuming the same slope holds in the vicinity of 0, the upper 95% confidence limits on the expected risk at level of 0.5] mg/kg would be a 0.055% increase in affected cells above control values.     

Cytogenetic effects of inhaled ozone in man

Peripheral blood samples were collected from 30 normal male volunteers before and at various intervals after inhaling 0.4 ppm ozone for 4 h. Data from 4 of the subjects were excluded from the analysis because of missing data points. The blood samples were cultured for 48 h, slides made and stained with a uniform Giemsa stain, and 100 metaphase spreads per subject per treatment scored for chromosome aberrations. Cells with suspected aberrations were photographed, destained, restained with a banding procedure and rephotographed to identify the specific chromosomes and regions involved.Pre-exposure, immediate post-exposure, 3 days post-exposure, 2 weeks post-exposure and 4 weeks post-exposure means for the percentage of cells with 46 chromosomes were 93.0, 93.6, 91.7, 94.5 and 94.2, respectively; in the same order, the mean number of cells with chromatid and/or chromosome breaks per 100 cells was 0.96, 0.85, 1.00, 0.88 and 0.81 respectively, and for chromatid and/or chromosome gaps per 100 cells: 1.35, 0.96, 1.35, 0.81 and 0.77, respectively. The means for each of these parameters as well as the mean frequencies of complex aberrations are not statistically significantly different between blood sampling times. The distribution of aberrations by chromosome and light and dark bands is not significantly influenced by ozone exposure.These data indicate no apparent detectable human cytogenetic effect due to exposure to ozone under the conditions of this experiment.     

Cytogenetic effects of pesticides. IV. Cytogenetic effects of the insecticides Gardona and Dursban.

The cytogenetic effects of the insecticides Gardona and Dursban were investigated. The toxicity and ability of both insecticides to induce chromosome aberrations and sister-chromatid exchange in vitro was tested in a primary culture of mouse spleen cells, in order to assess the potential mutagenicity of both insecticides. The concentrations 10(-7)-10(-3) M were used for testing the toxic effects of the insecticides. Both Gardona and Dursban were toxic to spleen cell cultures and the percentage of viable cells decreased as the concentration of the insecticide was increased. It reached 76.8% and 77.8% of control after treatment with the highest concentration tested (10(-3) M) of Gardona and Dursban respectively. Gardona at 0.25, 0.50, 1.0 and 2.0 micrograms/ml, and Dursban at 0.50, 1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 micrograms/ml were tested for the induction of chromosome aberrations and sister-chromatid exchanges. All of the tested concentrations of both insecticides induced a high percentage of metaphases with chromosomal aberrations in cultured mouse spleen cells after 4-h treatment. The frequency of SCEs/cell increased with increasing concentration of the insecticides. It reached 11.92 +/- 0.14/cell and 13.40 +/- 0.20/cell after treatment with Gardona (2 micrograms/ml) and Dursban (4 micrograms/ml), respectively, compared with 8.2 +/- 0.19/cell and 7.6 +/- 0.15/cell in the solvent control. The presented results indicate that both Gardona and Dursban in the tested concentrations are mutagenic in mouse spleen cell cultures.     

Cytogenetic effects of alachlor and mancozeb

The cytogenetic effects of 2 pesticides, alachlor and mancozeb, were determined in human lymphocytes in vitro and in rat bone-marrow cells in vivo. A dose-dependent increase of chromosomal aberration frequency was found, at concentrations of 1, 2, 4, 10, 20 and 40 μg/ml, for alachlor and mancozeb when administered during the last 24 h in 72-h human blood cultures. No increase in aberration yield as compared with that of controls was observed at the lowest concentrations of 1 and 2 μg/ml. A high level of heavily damaged cells, with despiralated, shattered and concomitantly separated chromatids was found at the highest concentration of 40 μg alachlor and mancozeb per ml.Doses of 1.25, 2.50 and 5 μg alachlor/g b.w. and of 2.5, 5 and 10 μg mancozeb/g b.w. were given to Wistar rats as a single injection for each dose. Bone-marrow cells for cytogenetic observations were gathered 24 h afterwards. All or almost all rats died within 2–4 h after the highest doses. Dose-related clastogenic effects were found for the 1.25 and 2.50 μg/g b.w. doses of alachlor and the 2.5 and 5 μg/g b.w. doses of mancozeb.Food containing alachlor and mancozeb, 200 ppm, was supplied to Wistar rats during 280 days at a daily intake of about 1.7 μg/g b.w. Chronic administration of mancozeb, but not alachlor, produced a significant level of chromosome damage.     

Cytogenetic effects of methyl isocyanate exposure in Bhopal

Summary Among human survivors following the methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas tragedy the major complaints have been related to deep-seated suffocation, terrible pain in breathing, and severe ocular irritations. In order to assess the possible genetic effects we have used lymphocyte cultures and screened chromosomes by two techniques; one by looking for chromosomal aberrations and the other by estimating sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) frequencies. Both these paramaters are good indicators of genetic damage in chromosomal DNA. SCE frequencies in lymphocytes have been increased more than three times in MIC-exposed persons. The results were compared to two groups of controls (one group comprising persons present in the same house; the second group of persons were chosen from distant places, 20–50 km away from the incident). Chromosomal breaks have been observed in 10 out of 14 MIC-affected people (71.4%) studied while only 6 out of 28 (21.4%) controls had chromosomal breaks. Some MIC-exposed persons had chromatin bodies in addition to the normal 46 chromosomes. These observations suggest that chromosomal DNA has been damaged.     

Women in Cairo

Development, Change, and Gender in Cairo:. View from the Household. Diane Singerman and Homa Hoodfar. eds. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996. 189 pp.
Tomorrow, God Willing: Self-Made Destinies in Cairo. Unni Wikan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. 333 pp.