Naslov
Micronuclei frequency in children exposed to environmental mutagens: a review

Autori
Neri, Monica ; Fučić, Aleksandra ; Knudsen, Lisbeth ; Lando, Cecilia ; Merlo, Franco ; Bonassi, Stefano

Izvornik
Mutation Research (1383-5742) 544 (2003); 243-254

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
children; genotoxicity; micronucleus test; review; molecular epidemiology

Sažetak
Cytogenetic monitoring has been traditionally used for surveillance of populations exposed to genotoxic agents. In recent years sensitivity problems emerged in surveys of populations exposed to low levels of mutagens, and therefore alternative approaches have been explored. Biomonitoring studies in children are promising field, since beacuse of evident differences in the uptake, metabolism, distribution and excretion of mutagens this population seems to be more susceptible than adults. Further, the effects of major confounders such as cigarette smoking, occupation, life-style, and dietary factors plays a minor role. Among cytogenetic assays, the micronuclesu assay (MN) has several advanatages and it increasingly used. A review was then carried out to synthesize the published data on the occurence of MN in children and adolescents (age range 0-18 years), and to assess the impact of genotoxic exposure on MN frequency. Overall, 20 papers from internaional literaure and 8 Russian papers were included. An effect of age was found within this age range, while the influence of gender on MN frequency was irrelevant. These results were confirmed by the re-analysis of data for 448 children selected from the HUMN database. An effect of chronic and infectious diseases on MN levels has been reported by various authors. Most studies describing the effect of exposure to genotoxic agents (ionizing radiation, chemicals, drugs, environmental tobacco smoke) found an increase of MN in exposed children. The limited number of published papers indicates that the conduct of properly designed studies on the effect of environmental pollutants in children may be difficult. The review confirmed the usefulness of MN assay in biomonitoring studies conducted in children, revealing that in many cinrcumstances investigating children increases the sensitivity of the study even with low dose exposure.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Biologija

POVEZANOST RADA