A multi-biomarker approach to study the effects of smoking on oxidative DNA damage and repair and antioxidative defense mechanisms.

Carcinogenesis 2001 Mar;22(3):395-401 Related Articles, Books, LinkOut A multi-biomarker approach to study the effects of smoking on oxidative DNA damage and repair and antioxidative defense mechanisms.Nia AB, Van Schooten FJ, Schilderman PA, De Kok TM, Haenen GR, Van Herwijnen MH, Van Agen E, Pachen D, Kleinjans JC.Department of Health Risk Analysis and Toxicology, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands.We investigated the effects of smoking-induced oxidative stress in healthy volunteers (21 smokers versus 24 non-smokers) by quantifying various markers of oxidative DNA damage and repair, and antioxidative defense mechanisms. Lymphocytic 7-hydroxy-8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxo-dG) levels measured by high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection, were significantly lower in smokers as compared with non-smokers (38.6 +/- 5.2 versus 50.9 +/- 4.6/10(6) dG, P = 0.05). The levels of oxidized pyrimidine bases in lymphocytes of smokers quantified by the endonuclease III-modified comet assay were non-significantly lower than those of non-smokers (% DNA in tail: 13 +/- 3 versus 14 +/- 2; tail length: 69 +/- 13 versus 96 +/- 10; tail moment: 6416 +/- 1220 versus 7545 +/- 1234). Urinary excretion levels of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG) assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay did not differ significantly between smokers and non-smokers (197 +/- 31 versus 240 +/- 33 ng/body mass index, P = 0.3). Overall DNA repair activity expressed as unscheduled DNA synthesis in blood leukocytes, was not significantly different between smokers and non-smokers (2.9 +/- 0.3 versus 3.3 +/- 0.3, P = 0.4). Plasma antioxidative capacity measured by the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity assay was slightly higher in smokers as compared with non-smokers (440 +/- 16 versus 400 +/- 15 microM Trolox equivalent, P = 0.09), and it was significantly related to lymphocytic 8-oxo-dG levels (r = 0.4, P = 0.001). Genotyping of human 8-OH-dG glycosylase/apurinic lyase and glutathione S-transferase M1 showed that a polymorphism in either or both of the two genes does not affect any of the quantified biomarkers. We conclude that oxidative stress imposed by cigarette smoking has a low impact upon certain pathways involved in DNA damage and the antioxidative defense system.