Effect of gender and cigarette smoking on urinary excretion of etheno DNA adducts in humans measured by isotope dilution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Endogenous formation of the promutagenic DNA adducts 1,N(6)-ethenoadenine (epsilon Ade) and 3,N(4)-ethenocytosine (epsilon Cyt) has been considered as biomarkers originated from lipid peroxidation. Elevated levels of epsilon Ade and epsilon Cyt were observed in cancer-prone tissues, suggesting the validity of these adducts in cancer risk assessment. The presence of DNA base adducts in biological fluids is considered to derive primarily from base excision repair (BER) systems. In this study, a modified gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method is developed for simultaneous analysis of epsilon Ade and epsilon Cyt in human urine. After adjusting for creatinine concentration, urinary excretion of epsilon Ade, as well as epsilon Cyt, is much higher in 18 male smokers than in 10 male nonsmokers (p=0.003 for epsilon Ade and p=0.04 for epsilon Cyt). Furthermore, excretion of epsilon Ade and epsilon Cyt in 14 female nonsmokers is much higher than in 10 male nonsmokers (p=0.002 for epsilon Ade and p=0.005 for epsilon Cyt). These results suggest a statistically significant association between gender, as well as smoking, and excretion of epsilon Ade and epsilon Cyt. Moreover, urinary excretion of epsilon Ade in these 42 subjects correlates with that of epsilon Cyt (R(2)=0.6846, p<0.0001). Measurement of urinary epsilon Ade and epsilon Cyt excretion should provide valid noninvasive biomarkers for carcinogenesis and chemoprevention studies.