ToxSci Advance Access published online on June 3, 2004
Toxicological Sciences, doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfh184
Toxicological Sciences © Society of Toxicology 2004; all rights reserved
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1 Department of Preventive Medicine, Medical Research Center for Environmental Toxico-Genomics and Proteomics, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul 136-705, Korea
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jyleeuf{at}korea.ac.kr.
The Comet assay has become increasing popularity for use in human biomonitoring or epidemiologic studies; however, one of the shortcomings of the Comet assay is a lack of agreement on a single appropriate Comet parameter which is capable of adequately describing observed DNA damages. Among the tail parameters of Comet features, the most frequently used are the tail moments (both the Olive tail moment and extent tail moment), the tail DNA and the tail length. While some studies comparing Comet parameters have been found in cell toxicity research, there are few comparative studies that use human biomonitoring or epidemiologic data. In this study, we evaluate those four tail parameters in both high and low DNA damaged cells with the use of epidemiologic data. To do this, a new graphical approach, the so-called quantile dispersion graphs (QDGs) are used. In a comparison of the exposed group and the control group, either the tail moment or tail DNA is preferable to the tail length. With respect to providing smaller variability in quantiles for the amount of DNA damage, however, the tail moment is the most preferred for both groups. Moreover, the tail moment provides the most stable estimates for DNA damages in the sense of its larger degree of uniformity in quantile dispersions. To study high damages due to toxic exposure using B- or G-cells, however, the tail DNA showed more significant discrepancies than the others in terms of the mean differences, as well as the graphical differences between the two groups. In this respect, it is suggested to present both the tail moment and the tail DNA as tail parameters in human biomonitoring studies.
Accepted May 31, 2004
Genetic Toxicology
Use of the Tail Moment of the Lymphocytes to Evaluate DNA Damages in Human Biomonitoring Studies
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