Increased frequencies of sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) in peripheral blood lymphocytes of U.S. troops deployed in Kuwait
- John Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States)
- Army Environmental Hygiene Agency, Aberdeen, MD (United States); and others
Concern over potential exposure of U.S. troops to genotoxic emissions generated in oil well fires prompted a Biologic Surveillance Initiative to examine levels of genetic damage in a cohort of troops deployed in Kuwait. Blood was drawn from members of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment on June 6, 1991 while they were stationed in Germany (PRE, n=61), on August 11, 1991 after being deployed in Kuwait (DURING, n=51) and again on October 10, 1991 after returning to Germany (POST, n=36). Cells were cultured for 68-72 hours in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 15% fetal bovine serum, 1% phytohemagglutinin and 10 {mu}g/ml 5-bromo-2`-deoxyuridine. Metaphase cells were prepared by standard techniques and stained with Hoechst 33258 plus Giemsa to visualize SCE. Whenever possible, a total of 25 well-spread and well-stained cells were evaluated for each individual. Only 26 soldiers had values available for all three sampling points. Data on 50 soldiers was available for PRE and DURING sampling while data on 35 samples was available for a PRE vs POST comparison. The average frequency of SCE/cell increased from 4.33 {plus_minus} 0.53 in the PRE samples to 5.12 {plus_minus} 0.64 in the DURING samples to 5.28 {plus_minus} 0.72 in the POST samples. The PRE values were significantly different from both the DURING and POST values (p<0.001) using the paired t-test. While these results suggest that this cohort was potentially exposed to genotoxic materials, the source of the exposure(s) is presently not known.
- OSTI ID:
- 115138
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9503160-; ISSN 0893-6692; TRN: 95:004640-0031
- Journal Information:
- Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis, Vol. 25, Issue Suppl.25; Conference: 26. annual Environmental Mutagen Society meeting, St. Louis, MO (United States), 12-16 Mar 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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