Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, 74 Zhongshan 2nd Rd, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China.
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China.
BMC Public Health. 2020 Mar 23;20(1):382. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-08493-z.
Ubiquitously distributed benzene is a known hematotoxin. Increasing evidence has suggested that erythroid-related hematologic parameters may be sensitive to benzene exposure. Fat content, which is also closely associated with erythroid-related hematologic parameters, may affect the distribution and/or metabolism of benzene, and eventually benzene-induced toxicity.
To explore the influence of benzene exposure, fat content, and their interactions on erythroid-related hematologic parameters, we recruited 1669 petrochemical workers and measured their urinary S-phenylmercapturic acid (SPMA) concentration and erythroid-related hematological parameters. Indices for fat content included body fat percentage (BF%), plasma total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG), and occurrence of fatty liver.
The dose-response curve revealed U-shaped nonlinear relationships of SPMA with hematocrit (HCT) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) (P-overall < 0.001, and P-nonlinear < 0.015), as well as positive linear associations and r-shaped nonlinear relationships of continuous fat content indices with erythroid-related hematological parameters (P-overall ≤0.005). We also observed modification effects of fat content on the associations between benzene exposure and erythroid-related hematological parameters, with workers of lower or higher BF% and TG more sensitive to benzene-induced elevation of MCHC (P = 0.021) and benzene-induced decrease of HCT (P = 0.050), respectively. We also found that some erythroid-related hematologic parameters differed between subgroups of workers with different SPMA levels and fat content combination.
Our study suggested that benzene exposure, fat content, and their interactions may affect erythroid-related hematological parameters in petrochemical workers in a complex manner that are worthy of further investigation.
苯是一种分布广泛的血液毒素。越来越多的证据表明，红系相关血液学参数可能对苯暴露敏感。脂肪含量也与红系相关血液学参数密切相关，可能会影响苯的分布和/或代谢，最终导致苯中毒。
为了探讨苯暴露、脂肪含量及其相互作用对红系相关血液学参数的影响，我们招募了 1669 名石化工人，测量了他们尿液中 S-苯巯基尿酸（SPMA）浓度和红系相关血液学参数。脂肪含量指标包括体脂肪百分比（BF%）、血浆总胆固醇（TC）和甘油三酯（TG）以及脂肪肝的发生情况。
剂量-反应曲线显示 SPMA 与红细胞比容（HCT）和平均红细胞血红蛋白浓度（MCHC）呈 U 型非线性关系（P 总<0.001，P 非<0.015），连续脂肪含量指标与红系相关血液学参数呈正线性关系和 r 型非线性关系（P 总≤0.005）。我们还观察到脂肪含量对苯暴露与红系相关血液学参数之间关联的修饰作用，较低或较高 BF%和 TG 的工人对 MCHC 升高（P=0.021）和 HCT 降低（P=0.050）更为敏感。我们还发现，在 SPMA 水平和脂肪含量组合不同的工人亚组中，一些红系相关血液学参数存在差异。
我们的研究表明，苯暴露、脂肪含量及其相互作用可能以复杂的方式影响石化工人的红系相关血液学参数，值得进一步研究。
