The Multiethnic Cohort Study has demonstrated that the
risk for
lung cancer in cigarette smokers among three ethnic groups is highest
in Native Hawaiians, intermediate in Whites, and lowest in Japanese
Americans. We hypothesized that differences in levels of DNA adducts
in oral cells of cigarette smokers would be related to these differing
risks of lung cancer. Therefore, we used liquid chromatography-nanoelectrospray
ionization-high resolution tandem mass spectrometry to quantify the
acrolein-DNA adduct (8R/S)-3-(2′-deoxyribos-1′-yl)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-8-hydroxypyrimido[1,2-a]purine-10(3H)-one (γ-OH-Acr-dGuo, 1) and the lipid peroxidation-related DNA adduct 1,N
6
-etheno-dAdo (εdAdo, 2) in DNA obtained by oral rinse from 101 Native Hawaiians,
101 Whites, and 79 Japanese Americans. Levels of urinary biomarkers
of nicotine, acrolein, acrylonitrile, and a mixture of crotonaldehyde,
methyl vinyl ketone, and methacrolein were also quantified. Whites
had significantly higher levels of γ-OH-Acr-dGuo than Japanese
Americans and Native Hawaiians after adjusting for age and sex. There
was no significant difference in levels of this DNA adduct between
Japanese Americans and Native Hawaiians, which is not consistent with
the high lung cancer risk of Native Hawaiians. Levels of εdAdo
were modestly higher in Whites and Native Hawaiians than in Japanese
Americans. The lower level of DNA adducts in the oral cells of Japanese
American cigarette smokers than Whites is consistent with their lower
risk for lung cancer. The higher levels of εdAdo, but not γ-OH-Acr-dGuo,
in Native Hawaiian versus Japanese American cigarette smokers suggest
that lipid peroxidation and related processes may be involved in their
high risk for lung cancer, but further studies are required.