Nancy B Hopf1, Brigitta Danuser2, Claudia Bolognesi3, Pascal Wild4. 1. Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), Formerly IST, Institute for Work and Health, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland. Electronic address: Nancy.Hopf@unisante.ch. 2. Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), Formerly IST, Institute for Work and Health, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland. Electronic address: Brigitta.Danuser@hospvd.ch. 3. Environmental Carcinogenesis Unit Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy. Electronic address: claudiabolognesi@yahoo.it. 4. Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), Formerly IST, Institute for Work and Health, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland; INRS, French Institute for Research and Safety, Vandoeuvre, France. Electronic address: pascal.wild@inrs.fr.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Micronuclei (MNs) are extranuclear DNA-containing bodies and determining MN frequencies is a measure of genomic instability. An age-related increase in MN frequencies in lymphocytes has been quantified, but this effect has not yet been measured in nasal and buccal cells. METHODS: We determined the effect of age on the MN frequency distributions in buccal and nasal cells among a sample of a general adult population in Switzerland. To maximize the power to detect an effect of age in our population study, we recruited preferentially younger and older working age adults. We harvested buccal and nasal cells from 32 young (19-36 year) and 33 working age (47-71 years) participants. The collected cells were washed, centrifuged, and stained (Feulgen) before microscopic manual counting in 2000 cells. Based on these results, we developed an age-dependent background MN frequency chart to help interpret an individual's MN frequency score as an early signal for the effect of genotoxic exposure. RESULTS: MN frequencies were respectively 0.53‰ and 0.47‰ for buccal and nasal among the younger and 0.87‰ and 1.03‰ in the older working age group. This corresponded to a multiplicative slope of 14% and 20% per 10 years of age for buccal and nasal cells, respectively. CONCLUSION: Based on our study results, we are able to propose an approach for interpreting an individual's MN screening results.
BACKGROUND: Micronuclei (MNs) are extranuclear DNA-containing bodies and determining MN frequencies is a measure of genomic instability. An age-related increase in MN frequencies in lymphocytes has been quantified, but this effect has not yet been measured in nasal and buccal cells. METHODS: We determined the effect of age on the MN frequency distributions in buccal and nasal cells among a sample of a general adult population in Switzerland. To maximize the power to detect an effect of age in our population study, we recruited preferentially younger and older working age adults. We harvested buccal and nasal cells from 32 young (19-36 year) and 33 working age (47-71 years) participants. The collected cells were washed, centrifuged, and stained (Feulgen) before microscopic manual counting in 2000 cells. Based on these results, we developed an age-dependent background MN frequency chart to help interpret an individual's MN frequency score as an early signal for the effect of genotoxic exposure. RESULTS:MN frequencies were respectively 0.53‰ and 0.47‰ for buccal and nasal among the younger and 0.87‰ and 1.03‰ in the older working age group. This corresponded to a multiplicative slope of 14% and 20% per 10 years of age for buccal and nasal cells, respectively. CONCLUSION: Based on our study results, we are able to propose an approach for interpreting an individual's MN screening results.
Authors: I Guseva Canu; M Hemmendinger; J J Sauvain; G Suarez; N B Hopf; J A Pralong; T Ben Rayana; S Besançon; K Sakthithasan; V Jouannique; A Debatisse Journal: J Occup Med Toxicol Date: 2021-06-24 Impact factor: 2.646