Sister chromatid exchange frequency in inhabitants exposed to asbestos in Turkey

Our plain-English summary of Sister chromatid exchange frequency in inhabitants exposed to asbestos in Turkey, by H. Dönmez, Y. Ozkul, R. Uçak (Mutation Research, 1996).

The study

• Authors: H. Dönmez, Y. Ozkul, R. Uçak
• Journal: Mutation Research
• Published: 1996;361(2-3):129-32
• Cited by: 9 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Pleural mesothelioma, lung cancer, pleural calcification and fibrosis have been observed among inhabitants of the villages in Ivriz-Zanapa valley in Turkey. Earlier reports have stated that these endemic pathological conditions are caused by the inhalation of actinolite asbestos, a mineral commonly used indiscriminately to paint the walls and floors of houses. In the present study, 40 inhabitants in Yassikaya village in Ivriz-Zanapa valley and 20 controls were further investigated. The peripheral blood lymphocytes were cultured and harvested at 72 h for sister chromatid exchange (SCE) frequency. Inhabitants had a raised mean SCE rate compared with a control population.

In plain English

This study compared sister chromatid exchange (SCE), a laboratory indicator of genetic damage, in blood cells of Turkish villagers who lived with asbestos in their homes and in unexposed villagers. The exposed group was 40 nonsmokers (20 men and 20 women, aged 31 to 65) who had lived since birth in Yassikaya village in the Ivriz-Zanapa valley. Actinolite asbestos deposits are found in this valley, and residents still used asbestos to paint walls and floors and to insulate fireplaces. The comparison group was 20 healthy nonsmokers (10 men and 10 women, aged 30 to 50) from another village in the same valley with no asbestos exposure. Blood cells were grown for 72 hours, and 30 cells per person were examined blind. The exposed villagers had reported symptoms such as chest pain, breathlessness and coughing. They averaged 8.10 SCEs per cell, compared with 6.69 in the comparison group. This difference was statistically significant (p less than 0.0001). The authors concluded that exposure to asbestos may induce genetic damage in an environmentally exposed population.

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: Cross-sectional laboratory comparison of SCE frequency in cultured blood lymphocytes of environmentally exposed villagers versus unexposed controls
• Who was studied: 40 nonsmoking lifelong residents of Yassikaya village, Ivriz-Zanapa valley, Turkey (20 men, 20 women, aged 31 to 65, mean age 47.75) and 20 healthy nonsmoking controls from another village in the same valley (10 men, 10 women, aged 30 to 50, mean age 41.9). The study dates are not stated.
• Exposure: Environmental household exposure: asbestos used to paint walls and floors and to insulate fireplaces in homes, in a valley where actinolite asbestos deposits are found. Exposure was defined by residence and household use, not by fiber measurement.
• Main results:
  • Yassikaya inhabitants (n = 40): mean SCE per cell 8.10, plus or minus 1.46 (range 6.45 to 10)
  • Controls (n = 20): mean SCE per cell 6.69, plus or minus 0.52 (range 5.45 to 7.54)
  • The inhabitants' SCE frequency was significantly higher than the controls' (Student's t-test, p less than 0.0001)
  • The exposed individuals reported symptoms including chest pain, dyspnea, coughing and expectoration
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the increased SCE frequency indicates that exposure to asbestos may induce genetic damage in an environmentally exposed population.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Mesothelioma, Lung Cancer, Pleural Calcification, Fibrosis, Endemic, Actinolite.

Related studies

• Sister-chromatid exchange and cell kinetics in CHO-K1 cells, human fibroblasts and lymphoblastoid cells exposed in vitro to asbestos and glass fibre — G. Casey (1983)
• Sister chromatid exchanges in rat pleural mesothelial cells treated with crocidolite, attapulgite, or benzo 3-4 pyrene — S. Achard, M. Perderiset, et al. (1987)
• In vitro response of rat pleural mesothelial cells to talc samples in genotoxicity assays (sister chromatid exchanges and DNA repair) — S. Endo-Capron, A. Renier, et al. (1993)
• Investigation of micronucleus frequencies in lymphocytes of inhabitants environmentally exposed to chrysotile asbestos — H. Dönmez-Altuntas, M. Baran, et al. (2007)
• Pleural calcification associated with exposure to chrysotile asbestos in southeast Turkey — S. Yazicioglu (1976)
• Environmental exposure to asbestos in eastern Turkey — H.C. Hasanoğlu, M. Gokirmak, et al. (2003)

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