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Published on: February 23, 2024
Increased frequency of micronuclei in binucleated lymphocytes among occupationally pesticide-exposed populations: a
Hai-Yan Yang1, Ruo Feng, Jing Liu
1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
Background:
The cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assay is a standard cytogenetic tool employed to evaluate chromosomal damage subsequent to pesticide exposure.
Objectives:
To evaluate the pooled levels of total micronuclei (MN) and binucleated cells with micronuclei (MNC) in 1000 binucleated lymphocytes among population occupationally exposed to pesticides and further determine the more sensitive biomarker of CBMN.
Materials And Methods:
A meta-analysis on the pooled levels of MN and MNC in binucleated lymphocytes among occupationally pesticide-exposed populations was conducted using STATA 10.0 software and Review Manager 5.0.24 in this study.
Results:
We found significant differences in frequencies of MN and MNC in 1000 binucleated lymphocytes between pesticide-exposed groups and controls, and the summary estimates of weighted mean difference were 6.82 [95% confidence interval (95% CI): 4.86-8.78] and 5.08 (95% CI: 2.93-7.23), respectively. However, when we conducted sensitivity analyses further, only the MN remained statistically different, but not the MNC, the summary estimates of weight mean difference were 2.86 (95% CI: 2.51-3.21) and 0.50 (95% CI: -0.16-1.17), respectively. We also observed pesticide-exposed subjects had significantly higher MN frequencies than controls among smokers and nonsmokers, male and female populations, and American, Asian and European countries in stratified analyses.
Conclusions:
The frequency of MN in peripheral blood lymphocytes might be a more sensitive indicator of early genetic effects than MNC using the CBMN assay for occupationally pesticide- exposed populations.
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