ANALYSIS OF SPONTANEOUS AND STREPTONIGRIN-INDUCED SISTER CHROMATID EXCHANGES IN PERIPHERAL LYMPHOCYTES OF AIRCREW MEMBERS OF INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS

SÁNCHEZ, J.; BIANCHI, M.S.; CIANCIO, V.R.; BOLZÁN, A.D.

JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL PATHOLOGY, TOXICOLOGY AND ONCOLOGY : OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CANCER.

Begell House Inc.

Año: 2008 vol. 27 p. 277 - 285

0731-8898

In this work, we extend our previous studies concerning mutagen sensitivity in flight personnel from commercial airlines by analyzing the frequency of spontaneous and streptonigrin (SN)-induced sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) in peripheral blood lymphocytes of 18 long-haul aircrew members from Argentina and of 18 control individuals. Statistical analysis revealed no significant differences between aircrew and controls in the background level of SCEs (p > 0.05), which suggests that chronic exposure to cosmic radiation and other occupational hazards does not affect SCEs frequency in peripheral lymphocytes of aircrew. The fact that almost no correlation was found between cumulative flight hours and the yield of spontaneous SCEs in aircrew adds further support to this assumption. Therefore, the background SCEs frequency cannot be use as a valid biomarker to determine the genotoxic effects of cosmic radiation or other occupational hazards exposure in aircrew. Following SN treatment, a significant increase in the mean frequency of SCEs was observed in the control group (p < 0.05) but not in the aircrew group (p > 0.05), suggesting that, at the population level, aircrew are more resistant to the mutagenic effects of SN than controls. The reasons of this resistance remain to be determined. Since cosmic radiation had no effect on the background SCEs frequency and no relationship was found between cumulative flight hours and SCEs inducer effect by SN in aircrew, a direct effect of cosmic radiation on SN resistance should be discarded.