Hemoglobin and albumin adducts of benzene oxide among workers exposed to high levels of benzene |
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Authors: | Yeowell-O'Connell K; Rothman N; Smith MT; Hayes RB; Li G; Waidyanatha S; Dosemeci M; Zhang L; Yin S; Titenko-Holland N; Rappaport SM |
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Institution: | Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599-7400, USA. |
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Abstract: | Benzene oxide (BO) reacts with cysteinyl residues in hemoglobin (Hb) and
albumin (Alb) to form protein adducts (BO-Hb and BO-Alb), which are
presumed to be specific biomarkers of exposure to benzene. We analyzed
BO-Hb in 43 exposed workers and 42 unexposed controls, and BO-Alb in a
subsample consisting of 19 workers and 19 controls from Shanghai, China, as
part of a larger cross-sectional study of benzene biomarkers. The adducts
were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry following reaction of
the protein with trifluoroacetic anhydride and methanesulfonic acid. When
subjects were divided into controls (n = 42) and workers exposed to < or
=31 (n = 21) and >31 p.p.m. (n = 22) benzene, median BO-Hb levels were
32.0, 46.7 and 129 pmol/g globin, respectively (correlation with exposure:
Spearman r = 0.67, P < 0.0001). To our knowledge, these results
represent the first observation in humans that BO-Hb levels are
significantly correlated with benzene exposure. Median BO-Alb levels in
these 3 groups were 103 (n = 19), 351 (n = 7) and 2010 (n = 12) pmol/g Alb,
respectively, also reflecting a significant correlation with exposure
(Spearman r = 0.90, P < 0.0001). The blood dose of BO predicted from
both Hb and Alb adducts was very similar. These results clearly affirm the
use of both Hb and Alb adducts of BO as biomarkers of exposure to high
levels of benzene. As part of our investigation of the background levels of
BO-Hb and BO-Alb found in unexposed persons, we analyzed recombinant human
Hb and Alb for BO adducts. Significant levels of both BO-Hb (19.7 pmol/g)
and BO-Alb (41.9 pmol/g) were detected, suggesting that portions of the
observed background adducts reflect an artifact of the assay, while other
portions are indicative of either unknown exposures or endogenous
production of adducts.
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