The application of the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay on peripheral blood lymphocytes for the assessment of genome damage in long-term residents of areas with high radon concentration

Abstract

Estimating the effects of small doses of ionising radiation on DNA is one of the most important problems in modern biology. Different cytogenetic methods exist to analyse DNA damage; the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay (CBMN) for human peripheral blood lymphocytes is a simple, cheap and informative cytogenetic method that can be used to detect genotoxic-related markers. With respect to previous studies on radiation-induced genotoxicity, children are a poorly studied group, as evidenced by the few publications in this area. In this study, we assessed radon genotoxic effects by counting micronuclei (MN), nucleoplasmic bridges (NPBs) and nuclear buds (NBUDs) in the lymphocytes of children who are long-term residents from areas with high radon concentrations. In the exposed group, radon was found to cause significant cytogenetic alterations. We propose that this method can be employed for biomonitoring to screen for a variety of measures.

The Cytokinesis-Block Micronucleus Assay on Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes as a Prospective Biological Test-System to Estimate the Influence of Radon on the Human Organism: Recent Progress and Future Prospects

“…Previously, we have shown that the DNA of people living in areas with high radon concentrations may be affected by substantial genotoxicity. This was reflected in our study by an increased frequency of cells with MN, particularly in binucleated peripheral blood lymphocytes (0.6% of cells with MN in the exposed group vs. 0.3% in the control, p < 0.001) [31]. The same findings were discovered by another group [26].…”

DNA excision repair and double-strand break repair gene polymorphisms and the level of chromosome aberration in children with long-term exposure to radon

“…Radon is a carcinogen that belongs to the highest hazard class and can cause various types of genetic damage, as our previous articles demonstrated (Sinitsky and Druzhinin 2014;Druzhinin et al 2015). Long-term exposure to radon in the boarding school in Tashtagol exposes children and adolescents (8-18 years old) to a relative increase in genotoxic stress.…”

Gene expression profiling to identify the toxicities and potentially relevant disease outcomes due to endosulfan exposure

“…MN was identified and counted by scoring 200 nuclei in five fields according to previously established criteria. 21…”