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To clarify the effects of lung function following exposure to diesel engine exhaust (DEE), we recruited 137 diesel engine testing workers exposed to DEE and 127 non-DEE-exposed workers as study subjects. We performed lung function tests and measured cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) cytome index and levels of urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) metabolites. There was a significant decrease of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 second to forced vital capacity (FEV1/ FVC), maximal mid expiratory flow curve (MMF), forced expiratory flow at 50% of FVC (FEF50%), and forced expiratory flow at 75% of FVC (FEF75%) in the DEE-exposed workers than non-DEE-exposed workers (all p < 0.05). Among all study subjects, the decreases of FEF75% were associated with the increasing levels of PAHs metabolites (p < 0.05), and there were negative correlations between FEV1, FEV1/FVC, MMF, FEF50%, and FEF75% with CBMN cytome index (all p < 0.05). Our results show that long-term exposure to DEE can induce lung function decline which shows mainly obstructive changes and influence of small airways function. The decreased lung function is associated with internal dosage of DEE exposure, and accompany with the increasing CBMN cytome index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insertion/deletion (InDels) markers can serve as a useful supporting tool to short tandem repeat (STR) typing systems for human identification. The Qiagen DIPplex Investigator kit, which contains 30 biallelic autosomal InDels and amelogenin, has been developed for forensic use. To estimate the genetic diversity of the 30 markers in Han Chinese individuals living in Zhejiang and to further evaluate their applicability in forensic science, 246 unrelated Han Chinese from Zhejiang were genotyped at these loci. No significant departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were observed at these loci in these participants. The combined power of discrimination was over 0.99999999 and the combined probability of exclusion was over 0.9901. Results demonstrated that the 30 InDel markers could be used as a supporting tool for the human identification of specific Han Chinese individuals from Zhejiang. The genetic differences and phylogenetic relationships among Han Chinese from Zhejiang, Han Chinese from five other areas, nine minority ethnic groups, as well as two other East Asian populations were also investigated. Two InDel markers, HLD39 and HLD40, showed significant allele-frequency differences between Han Chinese from Zhejiang and ethnic minorities. Further analysis can be used to evaluate their role in forensic science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a case-control study which suggested that slow metabolic phenotypes of N-Acetyltransferases (NAT1 and NAT2) are risk factors for trichloroehtylene (TCE)-induced hypersensitivity dermatitis. It states a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism was used to detect the polymorphic sites of NAT1 and NAT2. It also informs that logistic regression analysis was used to calculate odd ratios (OR) and confidence intervals (CI).

The article presents a study which examines the role of suboptimal DNA repair capacity (DRC) in the chromosomal damage in peripheral lymphocytes of 94 coke-oven workers and 64 noncoke-oven controls. It notes that the cytokenesis-block micronucleus analysis was used in detecting chromosomal damage in peripheral lymphocytes. It highlights the complicated interrelationship of the biochemical markers among coke workers which was identified using path analysis.

The article investigates the link of aryl hydrocarbon receptor gene polymorphisms and urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) in workers exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). According to multivariate analysis, the levels of 1-OHP in PAH-exposed workers carrying genotype CT were lower than workers carrying wild genotype TT. The results suggest that aryl hydrocarbon receptor-mediated signaling might contribute to individual susceptibility to PAH exposure.