Wise Laboratory of Environmental and Genetic Toxicology, University of Southern Maine, 96 Falmouth St., Portland, ME 04104, USA.
Comp Biochem Physiol C Toxicol Pharmacol. 2009 Nov;150(4):487-94. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpc.2009.07.004. Epub 2009 Jul 24.
Humans and cetaceans are exposed to a wide range of contaminants. In this study, we compared the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of a metal pollutant, hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)], which has been shown to cause damage in lung cells from both humans and North Atlantic right whales. Our results show that Cr induces increased cell death and chromosome damage in lung cells from both species with increasing intracellular Cr ion levels. Soluble Cr(VI) induced less of a cytotoxic and genotoxic effect based on administered dose in right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) cells than in human (Homo sapiens) cells. Whereas, particulate Cr(VI) induced a similar cytotoxic effect but less of a genotoxic effect based on administered dose in right whale cells than in human cells. Differences in chromium ion uptake explained soluble chromate-induced cell death but not all of the soluble chromate-induced chromosome damage. Uptake differences of lead ions could explain the differences in particulate chromate-induced toxicity. The data show that both forms of Cr(VI) are less genotoxic to right whale than human lung cells, and that soluble Cr(VI) induces a similar cytotoxic effect in both right whale and human cells, while particulate Cr(VI) is more cytotoxic to right whale lung cells.
人类和鲸目动物会暴露在各种各样的污染物中。在这项研究中，我们比较了一种金属污染物——六价铬 [Cr(VI)] 的细胞毒性和遗传毒性效应，此前的研究表明这种污染物会对人类和北大西洋露脊鲸的肺部细胞造成损伤。我们的结果表明，Cr 离子水平的增加会导致两种物种的肺部细胞死亡和染色体损伤增加。基于给予的剂量，可溶性六价铬（Cr(VI)）在北太平洋露脊鲸（Eubalaena glacialis）细胞中的细胞毒性和遗传毒性效应均小于人类（Homo sapiens）细胞。相比之下，基于给予的剂量，颗粒状六价铬（Cr(VI)）在北太平洋露脊鲸细胞中的细胞毒性效应相似，但遗传毒性效应较小。Cr 离子摄取的差异解释了可溶性铬酸盐诱导的细胞死亡，但并非所有可溶性铬酸盐诱导的染色体损伤都可以用这一差异来解释。铅离子摄取的差异可以解释颗粒状铬酸盐诱导的毒性差异。数据表明，两种形式的六价铬（Cr(VI)）对北太平洋露脊鲸肺部细胞的遗传毒性均小于人类肺部细胞，可溶性六价铬（Cr(VI)）对北太平洋露脊鲸和人类细胞均具有相似的细胞毒性效应，而颗粒状六价铬（Cr(VI)）对北太平洋露脊鲸肺部细胞的毒性更大。
