Abstract

“Biomarkers of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in work place environment” Arup Ratan Biswas*, S.S.Devi, K.Krishnamurthi, N.Vinayagamoorthy, Suman Chatterjee** and T.Chakrabarti

(*Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Techno India University, and ** Registrar, Techno India University, Sector V, Salt lake, Kolkata)

Introduction: The present investigation was aimed to establish urinary metabolite (1-hydroxy

pyrene) as biomarker of exposure, and 8-OH-dG (8-hydroxy-deoxy-guanosine) as the

biomarker of effect, Vis-a-Vis elucidating the protein profile of the study cohorts as a marker

of susceptibility along with ambient air monitoring was undertaken among the exposed

(n=140) from an engine tuning station of MSRTC, Nagpur and control (n=100).

Methodology: We determined urinary 1-OHP using reverse-phase HPLC according to the

method of Jongeneelen et al 1987. Urinary 8-OH-dG was quantified using ELISA method.

The PAHs content in ambient air were measured as suspended particulate matter (24 hourly

averages) for three consecutive days and estimated using GC. Protein profiling and

differential expression was carried out with 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis and PD-Quest

software.

Result: Study showed elevated 1-OHP in exposed population (GM 22.18 ± 5.6μg/g of

creatinine) compared to control (GM 6.54 ± 5.17μg/g creatinine), (P < 0.01) with a

statistically significant positive regression between exposure and 1-OHP level (P<0.001).

Elevated 8-OH-dG level was found among exposed (GM 25.68 ± 1.6 μg/g of creatinine)

compared to control (GM 24.7 ± 2.2μg/g of creatinine) (P>0.05) with confounding effect of

age and exposure (P<0.05). Ambient air monitoring result identified a total of 16 PAHs

(Table 1). Protein profiling study carried among three sub groups (based on 1-OHP level)

showed up-regulated expression of Fibrinogen and apolipoprotein A1.

Conclusion: The present study established 1-OHP as the exposure biomarker, 8-OH-dG as

effect biomarker, and fibrinogen and apolipoprotein A1 as marker of susceptibility.

Key words: Air pollution; 1-Hydroxypyrene; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons PAHs;

8-hydroxy-deoxy-guanosine; Fibrinogen; and Apolipoprotein A1.

Table 1: PAHs (ng/m3) in Work Environment