Quantification of DNA and Protein Adducts of 1-Nitropyrene: Significantly Higher Levels of Protein than DNA Adducts in the Internal Organs of 1-Nitropyrene Exposed Rats.

1-Nitropyrene (1NP) level is closely associated with the mutagenicity of diesel exhaust and is being used as the marker molecule for diesel exhaust. Thus, quantitation of the exposure to 1NP may provide an efficient method for biomonitoring human exposure to diesel exhaust and risk assessment. Using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence or tandem mass spectrometric detection methods, we quantitated and compared in this study the DNA and protein adducts of 1NP in internal organs of 1NP-exposed rats. While previous studies using radioactivity-based detection methods were descriptive in nature and focused on the mutation-associated genetic materials, the results of our quantitative analysis showed, for the first time, a significantly higher concentration of the protein adduct than the DNA adduct in the tissue samples. The data also revealed higher in vivo stability of the protein adduct than that of the DNA adduct. Our results provide solid evidence that demonstrates that the protein adduct might be a more-sensitive dosimeter for 1-NP and, thus, diesel-exhaust exposure.