Increased urinary 8-isoprostaglandin F(2)alpha is associated with lower plasma selenium levels and lower vegetable and fruit intake in an asbestos-exposed cohort at risk for lung cancer

Our plain-English summary of Increased urinary 8-isoprostaglandin F(2)alpha is associated with lower plasma selenium levels and lower vegetable and fruit intake in an asbestos-exposed cohort at risk for lung cancer, by E.B. Gottschall, P. Wolfe, A.D. Haegele, et al (Chest, 2004).

The study

• Authors: E.B. Gottschall, P. Wolfe, A.D. Haegele, Z. Zhu, C.S. Rose, T. Sells, H.J. Thompson
• Journal: Chest
• Published: 2004;125(5 Suppl):83S
• Cited by: 5 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Summary of the article

Oxidative damage is thought to be one way asbestos causes lung diseases, including lung cancer. The authors had previously found that urinary 8-isoprostaglandin F2alpha (8-EPG), a product of lipid peroxidation, was positively associated with years of asbestos exposure and with smoking in an asbestos-exposed cohort. In this study they examined whether fruit and vegetable intake and plasma selenium levels influenced urinary 8-EPG in the same population. Seventy-nine asbestos-exposed construction trades workers completed a validated seven-item food frequency questionnaire on daily fruit and vegetable intake. An administered questionnaire recorded age, smoking status and asbestos exposure. Urinary 8-EPG was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay after solid phase extraction, and plasma selenium by a fluorometric method. Urinary 8-EPG was inversely associated with both daily fruit and vegetable intake and plasma selenium. These associations remained significant after adjustment for age, current smoking and duration of asbestos exposure. Smoking status interacted strongly with fruit and vegetable intake. The standardized regression coefficients differed markedly: 0.67 (p 0.01) in 16 current smokers and 0.23 (p 0.06) in 63 former or never-smokers. The signs and comparison symbols are not legible in the source text. The authors concluded that 8-EPG was significantly higher in asbestos-exposed workers reporting low fruit and vegetable intake, particularly smokers, and that low plasma selenium also predicted higher 8-EPG. They suggested implications for dietary modification and selenium supplementation in groups at risk for lung cancer.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

This was a one-page report in a journal supplement. The authors studied 79 construction trades workers who had been exposed to asbestos. They measured a substance in urine called 8-isoprostaglandin F2 alpha (8-EPG), which they describe as a marker of oxidant injury. They compared it with each worker's self-reported daily fruit and vegetable intake and blood plasma selenium level. A questionnaire also recorded age, smoking and asbestos exposure. Higher urinary 8-EPG went with lower fruit and vegetable intake and lower plasma selenium. This association remained statistically significant after accounting for age, current smoking and duration of asbestos exposure. The link with diet differed by smoking status. The standardized regression coefficients for this inverse association were −0.67 for 16 current smokers and −0.23 for 63 former or never smokers, with p-values shown as 0.01 and 0.06. The authors concluded that 8-EPG was significantly higher in workers reporting low fruit and vegetable intake, particularly smokers, and that the findings may have implications for prevention such as dietary change and selenium supplementation.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Short research report (abstract-length) analyzing questionnaire answers and urine and blood measurements from an asbestos-exposed cohort, using regression models
• Who was studied: 79 asbestos-exposed construction trades workers: 16 current smokers and 63 former smokers or never-smokers. The article does not state where or when they were studied.
• Exposure: Asbestos exposure as construction trades workers. The fiber type is not stated. Duration of asbestos exposure and smoking status were recorded by questionnaire. The factors analyzed against urinary 8-EPG were self-reported daily fruit and vegetable intake (seven-item food frequency questionnaire) and plasma selenium levels.
• Main results:
  • In the 79 workers, urinary 8-EPG levels were inversely associated with both daily fruit and vegetable intake and plasma selenium levels.
  • The association remained statistically significant after controlling for age, current smoking status and duration of asbestos exposure.
  • The regression model showed a strong interaction between smoking status and self-reported daily fruit and vegetable consumption.
  • The standardized regression coefficients were −0.67 (p-value shown as 0.01) for 16 current smokers and −0.23 (p-value shown as 0.06) for 63 former or never-smokers. The minus signs are lost in the scanned text but follow from the article's description of the association as inverse.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that urinary 8-EPG was significantly higher in asbestos-exposed workers reporting low fruit and vegetable intake, particularly in smokers, and that low plasma selenium levels also predicted higher 8-EPG. They said the findings may have implications for preventive interventions such as dietary modification and selenium supplementation in cohorts at risk for lung cancer.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Lung Cancer, Asbestos Exposure.

Related studies

• Fruit, vegetable, vitamin A intakes, and prostate cancer risk — G.L. Ambrosini, N.H. de Klerk, et al. (2008)
• Increased alveolar nitric oxide concentration and high levels of leukotriene B(4) and 8-isoprostane in exhaled breath condensate in patients with asbestosis — H. Lehtonen, P. Oksa, et al. (2007)
• Increased 8-isoprostane, a marker of oxidative stress in exhaled breath condensate in subjects with asbestos exposure — D. Pelclová, Z. Fenclová, et al. (2008)
• The role of carotenoids in human health — E.J. Johnson (2002)
• Protective dietary factors and lung cancer — E.T. Fontham (1990)
• Growth inhibition and induction of apoptosis in mesothelioma cells by selenium and dependence on selenoprotein SEP15 genotype — S. Apostolou, J.O. Klein, et al. (2004)

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