Absolute telomere length in peripheral blood lymphocytes of workers exposed to construction environment

Author(s)

Rohr, Paula ; dos Santos, Isabela Campanelli ; Lengert, Andre van Helvoort ; de Lima, Marcos Alves ; Reis, Rui Manuel ; Barbosa Jr, Fernando ; Santejo Silveira, Henrique Cesar

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH; v. N/A, p. 9-pg., 2022-04-25.

Abstract

Construction environment is composed of various substances classified as carcinogens. Thus, workers exposed in this environment can be susceptible to genomic instability that can be evaluated by absolute telomere length (TL). In this work, we evaluated TL in construction workers compared to a non-exposed group performed by qPCR assay. The TL was evaluated in 59 men exposed to the construction environment (10 years of exposure) and 49 men non-exposed. Our data showed that individuals exposed to the construction environment exhibited a significantly lower TL in relation to non-exposed group (p = 0.009). Also, on the multiple linear regression model, we observed that TL was significantly influenced by the construction environment exposure (p <= 0.001). Additionally, the arsenic exposure is associated to a shortening telomere (p <= 0.001), and the lead exposure caused an increase in TL (p <= 0.001). Thus, our findings suggest a modulation in TL by construction environment exposure, mainly by arsenic and lead exposure. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/24069-3 - ReSEARCH: Recognizing Signatures of the Exposome to Anticipate the Risks for a Continuous Health
• Grantee: Fernando Barbosa Júnior
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 12/24279-1 - Evaluation of exposure to environmental and occupational carcinogens in construction workers
• Grantee: Henrique César Santejo Silveira
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants