Urinary 8-Hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine as a biomarker for oxidative DNA damage in populations with long-term exposure to mercury

摘要

Mercury is a ubiquitous and highly toxic environmental pollutant. To study the relationship between mercury exposure and oxidative stress, serum and urinary Hg contents, oxidative DNA damage, and serum redox status have been evaluated in chronically Hg-exposed subiects and compared with the healthy controls. Urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8- OHdG) content, which was used as a biomarker of oxidative DNA damage among the Hg-exposed people, was determined by HPLC coupled with electrochemical detection (ECD). The antioxidant status was evaluated by measuring the activities of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase and the concentrations of total reduced glutathione and protein-bound thiols in serum. Our data demon strate that Hg exposure can induce oxidative DNA damage, while the antioxidative repair systems can be expected to minimize DNA lesions caused by mercury. In addition, the results suggest that the determination of the urinary 8-OHdG content is a use ful way for evaluating in vivo oxidativeDNA damage in the Hg-exposed populations.