Association of Marginal Folate Depletion With Increased Human Chromosomal Damage In Vivo: Demonstration by Analysis of Micronucleated Erythrocytes

Recent studies have demonstrated that in the absence of spleen function, frequencies of micronu-clei (Howell-Jolly bodies) in peripheral blood rbcs can be used to measure in vivo cytogenetic damage. Among 20 subjects studied ≤6 months after splenectomy, 1 had a frequency of micronucleated rbcs more...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:JNCI : Journal of the National Cancer Institute 1988-06, Vol.80 (7), p.525-529
Main Authors: Everson, Richard B., Wehr, Carol M., Erexson, Gregory L, MacGregor, James T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Chromosome Aberrations
Folic Acid Deficiency - genetics
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Lymphocytes - ultrastructure
Male
Molecular and cellular biology
Molecular genetics
Mutagenesis. Repair
Splenectomy
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Summary:Recent studies have demonstrated that in the absence of spleen function, frequencies of micronu-clei (Howell-Jolly bodies) in peripheral blood rbcs can be used to measure in vivo cytogenetic damage. Among 20 subjects studied ≤6 months after splenectomy, 1 had a frequency of micronucleated rbcs more than an order of magnitude higher than rates for the others. Initial data suggested that this subject was mildly folate-depleted, and a therapeutic trial with folate rapidly reduced the frequency of micronucleated rbcs to normal values. These observations suggest a need to evaluate further the contribution of mild levels of folate depletion to spontaneous chromosomal damage. The approach used here provides a sensitive index of clas-togenic damage and offers unique opportunities for investigating the determinants of cytogenetic damage in humans.
ISSN:0027-8874
1460-2105
DOI:10.1093/jnci/80.7.525