Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, Vol 4, Issue 3 217-221, Copyright © 1995 by American Association for Cancer Research

ARTICLES

Correlations between mutagen sensitivity and plasma nutrient levels of healthy individuals

O Kucuk, A Pung, AA Franke, LJ Custer, LR Wilkens, L Le Marchand, CM Higuchi, RV Cooney and TC Hsu
Cancer Research Center, University of Hawaii, Honolulu 96813, USA.

Increased mutagen sensitivity and decreased intake of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables have been associated with an increased risk of upper aerodigestive tract cancers. The objective of this study was to investigate the intraindividual variation in mutagen sensitivity and its possible correlation with plasma nutrient levels in a group of 25 healthy individuals in Hawaii. Mutagen sensitivity, as assessed by bleomycin-induced chromosomal breaks in cultured peripheral blood lymphocytes and plasma nutrient levels were measured monthly for 11 months. The monthly numbers of chromosomal breaks/cell ranged from 0.04 to 0.80 and showed considerable intraindividual variation. Based on individual means, significant inverse correlations were found between mutagen sensitivity scores and the plasma levels of alpha-carotene (r = -0.64), total carotenoids (r = -0.41), and ascorbic acid (r = -0.40). There were also significant inverse associations between monthly mean plasma levels of alpha-carotene (r = -0.58), beta-carotene (r = -0.76) and total carotenoids (r = -0.72) and monthly mean chromosomal breaks. In contrast, there was a significant positive correlation between monthly mean plasma triglyceride level (r = 0.60) and monthly mean mutagen sensitivity. These results suggest that mutagen sensitivity as assessed by the bleomycin assay may be influenced by plasma levels of certain nutrients and could potentially be modified by dietary interventions or micronutrient supplementation.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Berwick and P. Vineis Markers of DNA Repair and Susceptibility to Cancer in Humans: an Epidemiologic Review J Natl Cancer Inst, June 7, 2000; 92(11): 874 - 897. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. P. Perera Molecular Epidemiology: On the Path to Prevention? J Natl Cancer Inst, April 19, 2000; 92(8): 602 - 612. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]