DNA repair capacity marks susceptibility in pediatric asthma patients following low levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure

We studied DNA damage, DNA repair capacity and other oxidative stress markers with environmental polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure to find susceptible groups to show significant correlation between PAH exposure and studied markers. The total of study subjects were fifty five children from 6 to 9 years old including thirty six control group and nineteen asthma patients. No significant correlation between DNA damage and exposure markers was found among control group and asthma patients based on total antioxidants activity and glutathione/oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG) ratio. However, significant correlation was found between Tail DNA and 2-naphthol in high residual DNA damage group (20 upper percentile group) (r=0.63, p=0.038) who showed low DNA repair capacity. These studies revealed that low DNA repair capacity in children may render this population susceptible to environmental exposure including DNA damage-causing agents.