Abstract
Recently, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in outdoor air pollution have led to major public health problems and the identification of specific minimally invasive biomarkers for assessing environmental toxicant exposure has become increasingly important. However, research into the human health effects of inhalation exposure to VOCs remains insufficient. Using a microarray based approach, we identified and validated characteristic mRNA expression profiles in the human whole blood of workers exposed to VOCs (toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene), which were then compared with genomic level expressions in workers not exposed to the toxicants. We surveyed 141 workers working in a chemical production factory, of which 66 were not exposed to VOCs. We identified 4384 characteristic discernible exposure indicator mRNAs for toluene, 1296 for ethylbenzene, and 5821 for xylene. Using these, we were able to discern those subjects from the control group to a higher accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity than when using urinary biomarkers. The results showed that altered levels of mRNA can be a reliable, novel, and minimally invasive biological indicator of occupational exposure to VOCs. Future research directions should consider the adverse effects of exposure to VOCs on epigenetic regulation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Kim, S.J. et al. Epigenetic Regulation of miR-22 in a BPA-exposed Human Hepatoma Cell. BioChip J. 9, 76–84 (2015).
Ott, W.R. & Roberts, J.W. Everyday exposure to toxic pollutants. Sci. Am. 278, 72–77 (1998).
Bernstein, J.A. et al. The health effects of nonindustrial indoor air pollution. J. Allergy. Clin. Immun. 121, 585–591 (2008).
Li, X., Zhou, Q., Luo, Y., Yang, G. & Zhou, T. Joint action and lethal levels of toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene on midge (Chironomus plumosus) larvae. Environ. Sci. Pollut. R. 20, 957–966 (2013).
Andreoni, V. & Gianfreda, L. Bioremediation and monitoring of aromatic-polluted habitats. Appl. Microbiol. Biot. 76, 287–308 (2007).
Guo, H., Lee, S., Chan, L. & Li, W. Risk assessment of exposure to volatile organic compounds in different indoor environments. Environ. Res. 94, 57–66 (2004).
Smith, B. et al. The OBO Foundry: coordinated evolution of ontologies to support biomedical data integration. Nat. Biotechnol. 25, 1251–1255 (2007).
te Pas, A.B. & Walther, F.J. A randomized, controlled trial of delivery-room respiratory management in very preterm infants. Pediatrics 120, 322–329 (2007).
Tralau, T. et al. Regulatory toxicology in the twenty-first century: challenges, perspectives and possible solutions. Arch. Toxicol. 89, 823–850 (2015).
Draghici, S., Khatri, P., Eklund, A.C. & Szallasi, Z. Reliability and reproducibility issues in DNA microarray measurements. TRENDS. Genet. 22, 101–109 (2006).
Mandal, C., Jung, K.H. & Chai, Y.G. Ethanol toxicity affects olfactory receptor genes in forebrain of fetal mice. Mol. Cell. Toxicol. 11, 55–60 (2015).
Villanueva, J. et al. Serum peptide profiling by magnetic particle-assisted, automated sample processing and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Anal. Chem. 76, 1560–1570 (2004).
Waters, M.D. & Fostel, J.M. Toxicogenomics and systems toxicology: aims and prospects. Nat. Rev. Genet. 5, 936–948 (2004).
Kim, G.W. et al. Integrative analyses of differential gene expression and DNA methylation of ethylbenzeneexposed workers. BioChip J. 9, 259–267 (2015).
Kang, S.W., Ban, J., Kim, J.-H. & Lee, C.H. Altered gene expression in gingival tissues of the ligature-induced periodontitis rat model. Mol. Cell. Toxicol. 11, 257–263 (2015).
Hamadeh, H.K., Amin, R.P., Paules, R.S. & Afshari, C.A. An overview of toxicogenomics. Curr. Issues. Mol. Biol. 4, 45–56 (2002).
Bartosiewicz, M., Penn, S. & Buckpitt, A. Applications of gene arrays in environmental toxicology: fingerprints of gene regulation associated with cadmium chloride, benzo(a) pyrene, and trichloroethylene. Environ. Health. Persp. 109, 71 (2001).
Malek, A.M. et al. Exposure to hazardous air pollutants and the risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Environ. Pollut. 197, 181–186 (2015).
Vigliani, E. Leukemia associated with benzene exposure. Ann. NY. Acad. Sci. 271, 143–151 (1976).
Hong, J.Y. et al. Identification of time-dependent biomarkers and effects of exposure to volatile organic compounds using high-throughput analysis. Environ. Toxicol. In press (2015).
Sandikci, M., Eren, U. & Kum, S. Effects of formaldehyde and xylene on alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase positive T-lymphocytes in bronchus associated lymphoid tissue and peripheral blood in rats. Rev. Med. Vet-toulouse. 158, 297 (2007).
Valente, M. et al. In vivo evidence of apoptosis in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. Am. J. Pathol. 152, 479 (1998).
Basso, C., Corrado, D., Marcus, F.I., Nava, A. & Thiene, G. Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. Lancet. 373, 1289–1300 (2009).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hong, J.Y., Yu, S.Y., Ahn, J.J. et al. Environmental risk assessment of toxicity exposure: High-throughput expression profiling. BioChip J 10, 74–80 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13206-016-0110-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13206-016-0110-2