Gene expression in benzene-exposed workers
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE9569 | GEO | 2009/05/11
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA103393
REPOSITORIES: GEO
Similar Datasets
Project description:Human toxicogenomic studies to date have been of limited size, have mainly addressed exposures at the upper end of typical ranges of human exposure, and have often lacked precise, individual estimates of exposure. Previously, we identified genes associated with exposure to high (>10 ppm) levels of the leukemogen, benzene, through transcriptomic analyses of blood cells from small numbers of occupationally exposed workers. Here, we have expanded the study to 125 workers exposed to a wide range of benzene levels, including <1 ppm. Study design, and analysis with a mixed effects model, removed sources of biological and experimental variability and revealed highly significant widespread perturbation of gene expression at all exposure levels. Benzene is an established cause of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and may cause one or more lymphoid malignancies in humans. Interestingly, acute myeloid leukemia was among the most significant pathways impacted by benzene exposure in the present study. Further, at most exposure levels, immune response pathways including T cell receptor signaling, B cell receptor signaling, and Toll like receptor signaling were impacted, providing support for the biological plausibility of an association between lymphoma and benzene exposure. We also identified a 16-gene expression signature modified by all levels of benzene exposure, comprising genes with roles in immune response, inflammatory response, cell adhesion, cell-matrix adhesion, and blood coagulation. Overall, these findings support, and expand upon, our current understanding of the mechanisms by which benzene may induce hematotoxicity, leukemia and lymphoma. Furthermore, this study shows that with good study design and analysis, transcriptome profiling of the blood of chemically-exposed humans can identify relevant biomarkers across a range of exposures and inform about potential associations with disease risks. Key words: occupational exposure
2011-05-14 | GSE21862 | GEO
Project description:Human toxicogenomic studies to date have been of limited size, have mainly addressed exposures at the upper end of typical ranges of human exposure, and have often lacked precise, individual estimates of exposure. Previously, we identified genes associated with exposure to high (>10 ppm) levels of the leukemogen, benzene, through transcriptomic analyses of blood cells from small numbers of occupationally exposed workers. Here, we have expanded the study to 125 workers exposed to a wide range of benzene levels, including <1 ppm. Study design, and analysis with a mixed effects model, removed sources of biological and experimental variability and revealed highly significant widespread perturbation of gene expression at all exposure levels. Benzene is an established cause of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and may cause one or more lymphoid malignancies in humans. Interestingly, acute myeloid leukemia was among the most significant pathways impacted by benzene exposure in the present study. Further, at most exposure levels, immune response pathways including T cell receptor signaling, B cell receptor signaling, and Toll like receptor signaling were impacted, providing support for the biological plausibility of an association between lymphoma and benzene exposure. We also identified a 16-gene expression signature modified by all levels of benzene exposure, comprising genes with roles in immune response, inflammatory response, cell adhesion, cell-matrix adhesion, and blood coagulation. Overall, these findings support, and expand upon, our current understanding of the mechanisms by which benzene may induce hematotoxicity, leukemia and lymphoma. Furthermore, this study shows that with good study design and analysis, transcriptome profiling of the blood of chemically-exposed humans can identify relevant biomarkers across a range of exposures and inform about potential associations with disease risks. Key words: occupational exposure 29 workers exposed to <<1ppm benzene at most dosimetry reading over a 14-month period (Very Low), 30 exposed to average <1ppm (Low), 11 exposed to 5-10 ppm (High), 13 exposed to >10 ppm (Very High), and 42 unexposed controls (Control) who were frequency-matched to these subjects on the basis of age and gender were analyzed (technical replicates on some subjects, see SubjectID/description).
2011-05-14 | E-GEOD-21862 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Benzene, a natural component of petroleum products, is a known hematotoxic and leukemogenic agent. The haematotoxic effect and excess leukemia has been reported below 1 ppm, an exposure level previously considered not to cause any health effects. Gene expression studies suggest that benzene affects genes involved in AML and immune response pathways in a supra-linear manner, and at exposure levels as low as 0.1 ppm benzene. An increased risk of haematopoietic malignancies and altered gene expression also at exposure below 1 ppm is compatible with the emerging knowledge of a non-linear metabolism of benzene, favouring production of a greater proportion of toxic metabolites in subjects exposed to benzene concentrations below 1 ppm than in heavily exposed workers. In the present study, we investigated whether workers found to have a dose-dependent decline in relevant immune cells after benzene-exposure deviated from the unexposed referents in global gene expression changes in whole blood samples, and whether any pathways or genes previously reported in similar low-dose gene expression studies were differentially affected. The study population comprised eight benzene-exposed petroleum workers and five referents deemed unexposed to benzene recruited from the catering section on the same offshore installation (for sampling strategy, see sampling protocol). The two groups significantly differed in age. The dataset was therefore balanced for age by excluding workers at age <35 and >55 in the data modelling to identify significant genes.
2017-10-19 | E-MTAB-5331 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Previously, using microarrays and mRNA-Sequencing (mRNA-Seq) we found that occupational exposure to a range of benzene levels perturbed gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In the current study, we sought to identify gene expression biomarkers predictive of benzene exposure below 1 part per million (ppm), the occupational standard in the U.S. First, we used the nCounter platform to validate altered expression of 30 genes in 33 unexposed controls and 57 subjects exposed to benzene (<1 to ≥5 ppm). Second, we used SuperLearner (SL) to identify a minimal number of genes for which altered expression could predict <1 ppm benzene exposure, in 44 subjects with a mean air benzene level of 0.55±0.248 ppm (minimum 0.203ppm). nCounter and microarray expression levels were highly correlated (coefficients >0.7, p<0.05) for 26 microarray-selected genes. nCounter and mRNA-Seq levels were poorly correlated for 4 mRNA-Seq-selected genes. Using negative binomial regression with adjustment for covariates and multiple testing, we confirmed differential expression of 23 microarray-selected genes in the entire benzene-exposed group, and 27 genes in the <1 ppm-exposed subgroup, compared with the control group. Using SL, we identified 3 pairs of genes that could predict <1 ppm benzene exposure with cross-validated AUC estimates >0.9 (p<0.0001) and were not predictive of other exposures (nickel, arsenic, smoking, stress). The predictive gene pairs are PRG2/CLEC5A, NFKBI/CLEC5A, and ACSL1/CLEC5A. They play roles in innate immunity and inflammatory responses. Using nCounter and SL, we validated the altered expression of multiple mRNAs by benzene and identified gene pairs predictive of exposure to benzene at levels below the US occupational standard of 1ppm.
2018-09-06 | GSE119533 | GEO
Project description:Benzene is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant and an established human hematotoxicant and leukemogen. New insights into the pathogenesis of benzene hematotoxicity are urgently needed. Long non-coding RNA（lncRNA）can regulate gene expression and widely participate in the various physiological and pathological processes. Microarray analysis was used to identify the differentially expressed lncRNA and mRNA that were likely to be critical for benzene hematotoxicity. An integrated analysis of lncRNA and mRNA expression profiles was performed to identify key hub genes, pathways and biological processes. Peripheral blood samples were randomly obtained from four patients of chronic benzene poisoning, three benzene-exposed workers and three health controls without benzene exposure. The occupational history, age, gender, lifestyle such as smoking, drinking, recent drug use situation and medical history in each group were matched. Total RNA was extracted and an integrated analysis of lncRNA and mRNA expression profiles was performed by GeneChip Human Gene 2.0 ST Array (Affymetrix).
2015-07-27 | E-GEOD-50737 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:We identified and validated characteristic miRNA expression profiles of human whole blood in workers exposed to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and compared the usefulness of miRNA indicator of VOCs with the effectiveness of the already used urinary biomarkers of occupational exposure.
2015-03-28 | GSE67341 | GEO
Project description:We identified and validated characteristic miRNA expression profiles of human whole blood in workers exposed to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and compared the usefulness of miRNA indicator of VOCs with the effectiveness of the already used urinary biomarkers of occupational exposure. Using a microarray based approach, we screened and detected deregulated miRNAs in their expression in workers exposed to VOCs (toluene [TOL], xylene [XYL] and ethylbenzene [EBZ]). Total 169 workers from four dockyards were enrolled in current study, and 50 subjects of them were used for miRNA microarray analysis.
2015-03-28 | E-GEOD-67341 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:au11_04_benzene - benzene effects on brassica leaves - Improving the knowledge of the metabolic pathways of benzene in higher plants. - Cabbages (Brassica oleracea variety Prover), placed in a 300L exposure chamber, are directly subjected to a single dose of benzene (3ppm) for 24 hours.
2018-12-31 | GSE119486 | GEO
Project description:There is increasing concern regarding the adverse effects of air pollution on human health, and benzene is a major toxic compound in air pollution. Maternal benzene exposure has been associated with reproductive complications, such as preterm birth, low birth weight, and immunological and neurological complications in the offspring. However, it is poorly understood how benzene induces these complications. Our objective was to establish a full body inhalation mouse model for maternal benzene exposure that mimics clinical phenotypes observed in human populations, and characterize the maternal immune activation and placental response in our model. Here, we report that maternal immune activation triggered by benzene exposure during pregnancy leads to increased resorptions, abnormal placenta development and low birth weight of fetus. More importantly, there is a sexual dimorphic response to benzene exposure in female and male placentas. In the male placenta, the transcriptome changes reveal a more immunologically relevant profile, while females have a metabolically related profile. Furthermore, we discover the sexual dimorphic response could be a consequence of the sexual dimorphism of placenta at baseline, which indicates the significant difference between sexes in terms of the immunological processes in the placenta, both in human and mouse. Therefore, our findings established a benzene exposure mouse model and indicated the sexual dimorphism of placenta, which provides valuable reference for the future pregnancy studies.
2023-07-20 | PXD035085 | Pride
Project description:Benzene is a recognized hematotoxin and leukemogen; however, its mechanism of action in humans remain unclear. To provide insight into the processes underlying benzene hematotoxicity, we performed high-resolution metabolomic (HRM) profiling of plasma collected from a cross-sectional study of 33 healthy workers exposed to benzene (median 8-hr time-weighted average exposure; 20 ppma), and 25 unexposed controls in Shanghai, China. Metabolic features associated with benzene were identified using a metabolome-wide association study (MWAS) that tested for the relationship between feature intensity and benzene exposure. MWAS identified 478 mass spectral features associated with benzene exposure at FDR<20%. Comparison to a list of 13 known benzene metabolites and metabolites predicted using a multi-component biotransformation algorithm showed five metabolites were detected, which included the known metabolites phenol and benzene diolepoxide. Metabolic pathway enrichment identified 41 pathways associated with benzene exposure, with altered pathways including carnitine shuttle, fatty acid metabolism, sulfur amino acid metabolism, glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, and branched chain amino acid metabolism. These results suggest disruption to fatty acid uptake, energy metabolism and increased oxidative stress, and point towards pathways related to mitochondrial dysfunction, which has previously been linked to benzene exposure in animal models and human studies. Taken together, these results suggest benzene exposure is associated with disruption of mitochondrial pathways, and provide promising, systems biology biomarkers for risk assessment of benzene-induced hematotoxicity in humans.
2021-08-26 | ST001918 | MetabolomicsWorkbench