Correlation between Micronuclei Frequency in Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes and Retention of 131-I in Thyroid Cancer Patients

Abstract

Differentiated thyroid cancers (DTCs) derive from thyroid follicular cells and include papillary and follicular cancers. In patients with DTCs, the initial treatment includes thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine (131-I) therapy. The objective of this study was to examine whether the intensity of DNA damage in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) of DTC patients depends on the amount of 131-I retained in the selected regions of interest (thyroid and abdominal region) as well as in the whole-body 72 hours after therapy. In addition, the possible influence of other factors that may affect micronuclei (MN) frequency, such as age, gender, smoking habits, and histological type of tumour was analyzed. The study population consisted of 22 DTC patients and 20 healthy donors. Data on the distribution of 131-I were obtained from the whole-body scans. MN frequency and cytokinesis-block proliferation index (CBPI) were measured using cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay. 131-I therapy significantly increased the MN frequency (19.50 ± 6.90 vs. 27.10 ± 19.50 MN) and significantly decreased the CBPI (1.52 ± 0.20 vs. 1.38 ± 0.17) in patients' lymphocytes. There was a clear correlation between the increased MN frequency and 131-I accumulation in the thyroid region in patients without metastases. The MN values did not differ in relation to the factors that could affect MN, such as age, gender, smoking habits, and histological type of tumour. In conclusion, the MN frequency in PBLs of DTC patients without metastases depends on the accumulation of 131-I in the thyroid region and does not depend on the other factors examined.

A new tool for genotoxic risk assessment: Reevaluation of the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay using semi-automated scoring following telomere and centromere staining

“…The CBMN assay applied to peripheral blood lymphocytes is a standard cytogenetic technique for genetic toxicology and biological dosimetry that provides good reliability and reproducibility without requiring a high level of expertise. The existing tools for the automation of MN scoring permits large-scale use of the CBMN assay not only for regulatory testing in genetic toxicology [1], but also in the field of radiation protection to assess medical [32,33] or professional exposure [14].…”

Radiation and Thyroid Cancer

“…A negative correlation between micronuclei frequency and the level of platelets without correlation to thyroid-related hormones has been observed in blood of patients suffering from differentiated thyroid cancer and treated with radioactive iodine ( 131 I) [65]. Dom et al [66] studied children exposed and non-exposed to the Chernobyl radiation and compared them in the transcriptomes of normal contralateral tissues of PTC; in this way, the authors identified a gene expression signature (793 probes) that permits discrimination between both cohorts.…”

Mitigation of 131-I induced oxidative stress by supplementation of turmeric and green cardamom in thyroid patients

“…Radioiodine therapy usually reduces the antioxidants and antioxidative enzymes in the body that leads to increased MDA level (29) . Vrndic et al (30) reported significant increase in serum MDA level from 2 days up to a week after RAIT, but Alavi et al (28) observed a significant increase in MDA level on 3rd day after RAIT. Males were found more susceptible to oxidative stress induced by RAIT as compared to females.…”