An Cross-sectional Research On The Biomarkers In Urine And Serum In Occupational Workers Exposed To Coal Tar Pitch

Objective: Coal tar pitch,the main raw material of the carbon factory,can affect human health and cause damages to various organs,such as skin,heart,and lungs.This study explores whether changes in the levels of some biomarkers can be used as indicators for detecting early health impairments in occupational people exposure to coal tar pitch.Methods: The study subjects were occupational workers from four carbon factories in a province.On-site survey and biological sample collection were performed by using on-site epidemiological survey method.Before the study,a unified questionnaire was developed.The study subjects were interviewed face-to-face,and the questionnaire was finished by professional investigators.The items in the questionnaire included the gender,age,type of work,working-age,blood pressure,smoking history,and drinking history.Fasting venous blood and post-shift urine samples were collected.All the contents in the questionnaire were checked,and the data were entered into an Excel spreadsheet to establish a database.The levels of 1-hydroxypyrene,1-hydroxynaphthalene,and 2-hydroxynaphthalene in the urine were detected by high-performance liquid chromatography.The levels of p53,nm23-H1,survivin,and K-ras in the serum were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.According to whether directly exposure to coal tar pitch,a total of 586 study subjects were divided into control group(n=107)and exposure group(n=479).The data were analyzed by SPSS 20.0 software to find the biomarkers with statistical significance.Results: The levels of 1-hydroxypyrene,1-hydroxynaphthalene,and 2-hydroxynap hthalene in exposure group were significantly higher than those in control group(P<0.05).Compared with control group,the levels of p53,nm23-H1,survivin,and K-ras were higher in exposure group,with statistical difference in the levels of p53 and nm23-H1.The results of trend test showed no statistical significance in the levels of above biomarkers with the increase in working-ages.The difference in the expression of K-ras was statistically significant between smokers and nonsmokers in control group.There were significant differences in the median level of survivin and the expression levels of nm23-H1 and survivin between drinkers and non-drinkers in exposure group.Logistic analysis suggested that exposure is a risk factor for high expression of p53 and nm23-H1.The level of nm23-H1 decrease with the increase in working-age,and drinking is a risk factor for high expression of survivin.Correlation analysis between urinary exposure biomarkers and serum effectors showed that there was a correlation between 1-OHPyr and nm23-H1,1-OHPyr and survivin,1-OHNap and p53,2-OHNap and nm23-H1,2-OHNap and survivin.Conclusion: Serum p53 protein maybe an effective biomarker for exposure to coa l tar pitch.Detection of the serum levels of p53 and nm23-H1 may be useful in assessing the early damage to human health by coal tar pitch.