Evaluation of DNA damage in COPD patients and its correlation with polymorphisms in repair genes

Research article

Andréa Lúcia da Silva, Helen Tais da Rosa, Thaís Evelyn Karnopp, Clara Forrer Charlier, Joel Henrique Ellwanger, Dinara Jaqueline Moura, Lia Gonçalves Possuelo, Andréia Rosane Valim, Temenouga Nikolova Guecheva and João Antonio Henriques

BMC Medical Genetics 2013, 14:93 doi:10.1186/1471-2350-14-93

Published: 20 September 2013

Abstract (provisional)

Background

We investigated a potential link between genetic polymorphisms in genes XRCC1 (Arg399Gln), OGG1 (Ser326Cys), XRCC3 (Thr241Met), and XRCC4 (Ile401Thr) with the level of DNA damage and repair, accessed by comet and micronucleus test, in 51 COPD patients and 51 controls.

Methods

Peripheral blood was used to perform the alkaline and neutral comet assay; and genetic polymorphisms by PCR/RFLP. To assess the susceptibility to exogenous DNA damage, the cells were treated with methyl methanesulphonate for 1-h or 3-h. After 3-h treatment the % residual damage was calculated assuming the value of 1-h treatment as 100%. The cytogenetic damage was evaluated by buccal micronucleus cytome assay (BMCyt).

Results

COPD patients with the risk allele XRCC1 (Arg399Gln) and XRCC3 (Thr241Met) showed higher DNA damage by comet assay. The residual damage was higher for COPD with risk allele in the four genes. In COPD patients was showed negative correlation between BMCyt (binucleated, nuclear bud, condensed chromatin and karyorrhexic cells) with pulmonary function and some variant genotypes.

Conclusion

Our results suggest a possible association between variant genotypes in XRCC1 (Arg399Gln), OGG1 (Ser326Cys), XRCC3 (Thr241Met), and XRCC4 (Ile401Thr), DNA damage and progression of COPD.

Sign up to receive new article alerts from BMC Medical Genetics Sign up