Search

Basal and induced frequencies of genetic damage can be modulated by different host factors, including genes involved in phase II metabolism. Since polymorphic variants in the glutathione S-transferase (GST) and N-acetyl transferase (NAT) genes have been associated with cancer risk, we explored the possible links between GSTM1, GSTP1, GSTT1 and NAT2 variants and the frequency of micronuclei (MN) in human lymphocytes. This exploratory study was carried out in 30 thyroid cancer patients, before and after receiving an average dose of 109.9+/-1.3 mCi radioactive iodine as a co-adjuvant therapy. The results indicate that none of the polymorphisms studied show any kind of association with the basal level of micronuclei. When the same patients were followed after radioiodine exposure, a significant increase in the frequency of MN was observed in practically all of them (28/30), indicating the genotoxic activity of the ionising radiation exposure. The increase in MN frequency was not associated with any of the GST polymorphisms evaluated. Nevertheless, the presence of slow acetylator phenotypes and, in particular, the presence of the NAT2*7 allele was significantly associated with a lower increase of the MN frequency after radioiodine treatment.

Arsenic is a well-known human carcinogen with a ubiquitous distribution in the natural environment. Chronic exposure to inorganic arsenic involves a biotransformation process that leds to the main excretion of organic methylated metabolites, such as monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), as well as the parental inorganic species. Interindividual variation in arsenic metabolism has been extensively reported, and polymorphisms in genes involved in such process could be related to changes in the arsenic excretion profile and the response to chronic exposures. Our analysis of the metabolic profiles in three groups of workers exposed to different arsenic exposure levels showed high amounts of inorganic arsenic and MMA in the most-exposed workers versus the least-exposed workers, in whom high amounts of DMA were observed. With respect to the role of different genetic polymorphisms in the glutathione S-transferase (GST) genes in the modulation of the urinary profiles, for the overall population only a tendency was just observed between GSTM1 null and MMA excretion as well as between GSTP1 val/val and DMA excretion.

Glutathione S-transferases (GST) are enzymes involved in the metabolism of many carcinogens and mutagens, also acting as important free-radical scavengers. The existence of different genetic polymorphisms in human populations has proven to be a susceptibility factor for different tumours. Nevertheless, as far as we know, for thyroid cancer no study has been conducted until now linking its incidence to genetic susceptibility biomarkers. The present investigation has been conducted to detect the possible association between polymorphism at the GSTM1, GSTT1 and GSTP1 genes and thyroid cancer incidence. Thus, 134 thyroid cancer patients and 116 controls, all from the urban district of Barcelona (Spain), have been included in this study. The results indicate that, according to the calculated odds ratio, the frequencies of the different genotypes found in the group of cancer patients do not significantly differ from those values obtained in the controls. This is true for the overall data as well as for the tumour characterization as follicular and papillar types. In addition, none of the possible combinations of mutant genotypes were shown to be risk factors. Finally, when the sex of the patients, the age of tumour onset, and life-style habits were also taken into account, no influence was observed related to the different genotypes. In conclusion, the results obtained in this study clearly suggest that those susceptibility factors related to the different GST polymorphic enzymes are not a predisposing factor in thyroid cancer disease.