Cytogenetic damage in female Pakistani agricultural workers exposed to pesticides

Abstract

Bhawalpur is a major cotton-growing area in Pakistan. Cotton picking in Pakistan is carried out by females and as a result of the intensive use of pesticides during the growing season these females are exposed to pesticide residues in the picking season. In the present study, peripheral blood was obtained from 69 cotton pickers and 69 unexposed females and used to assess the effect of pesticide exposure on genetic damage as well as on hepatic enzymes and serum cholinesterase. The subjects were of similar average age in workers and control groups (37.55 +/- 12.75 vs. 37.52 +/- 13.47, P > 0.05). Average exposure time of the picker females was 10.26 +/- 6.14 years. Subjects from the exposed group did not use any protective measures during their work activities. Levels of serum cholinesterase were lower, and levels of alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase were higher in the exposed workers as compared with the control group (P < 0.001). The exposed group exhibited significantly increased frequencies of binucleated cells with micronuclei (12.72 +/- 3.48 vs. 4.35 +/- 2.44, P < 0.001) and total number of micronuclei in binucleated lymphocytes (16.51 +/- 4.27 vs. 5.86 +/- 3.09, P < 0.001) in comparison with subjects of the control group. The binucleated cells with micronuclei frequency also seemed to increase with age in both the groups, however, the magnitude of increase was greater in exposed group than the control. Results from the present study indicate that occupational exposure to pesticide mixtures results in cytogenetic damage in exposed females.

Evaluation of the toxicological profile of the leaves and young twigs of <i>Caesalpinia bonduc</i> (linn) roxb

“…The decrease in plasma albumin and in the total plasma protein indicated hepatocellular dysfunction or liver disease (Kumar et al, 2005). Elevated levels of ALT and AST observed in this study (Table VII) may be due to pathological changes such as necrosis of hepatocytes, which caused an increase in the permeability of the cell membranes, resulting in the release of aminotransferases into the blood stream (Ali et al, 2008). ALT has been reported to be a marker with a high specificity for acute hepatocellular injury (Friedman et al, 1996).…”

Maternal and fetal risk factors associated with severity of hypospadias: A comparison of mild and severe cases

“…Organochlorine pesticides have well documented estrogenic effects [18,19]. Another case-control study has demonstrated an increase in cytogenetic damage that correlates with increasing age in women with occupational exposure to pesticides [20]. An alternative explanation is the potential for more frequent use of assisted reproductive technologies in older women.…”

Chromosomal Aberrations in agricultural farmers exposed to pesticides

“…Furthermore, polymorphisms in metabolism and DNA-repair genes may modulate the extent of DNA damage in pesticide-exposed workers [33]. Since the AFs are frequently exposed to mixture of pesticides, it is diffi cult to attribute the genotoxic damage [31,36,37]. A progressive increase in spontaneous chromosome instability/chromosomal loss due to the aging process is associated with the accumulation of DNA damage which is caused by age-related decline in DNA repair capacity [38].…”