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Title: Benzene metabolites induce the loss and long arm deletion of chromosomes 5 and 7 in human lymphocytes.

Authors: Zhang, L; Wang, Y; Shang, N; Smith, M T

Published In Leuk Res, (1998 Feb)

Abstract: Two of the most common cytogenetic changes in therapy- and chemically-related leukemia are the loss and long (q) arm deletions of chromosomes 5 and 7 (i.e. -5, -7, del(5q) and del(7q)). We have used a novel fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) procedure to determine if the benzene metabolites hydroquinone (HQ) and 1,2,4-benzenetriol (BT) can induce these specific changes in human lymphocytes cultured as whole blood. Metaphase spreads were prepared and hybridized with centromeric probes for chromosomes 1, 5 and 7 and sequence specific probes for 5q31 and 7q36-qter. HQ and BT significantly increased monosomy 5 and 7 by 3-5 fold (p < 0.0001). Both HQ and BT also significantly increased the rate of del(5q) and del(7q) by 8-12 fold (p < 0.0001). Chromosome 7 was especially susceptible to aneusomy induction by HQ and BT at low doses. These results show that metabolites of benzene are highly effective in inducing changes in chromosomes 5 and 7 that are involved in the development of myeloid leukemia.

PubMed ID: 9593466 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Aneuploidy; Chromosome Deletion*; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 5*; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 7*; Humans; Hydroquinones/pharmacology*; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; Infant; Lymphocytes/drug effects*; Lymphocytes/physiology*; Mutagens/pharmacology*

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