Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 63527Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Toxicol Ind Health. 2021 Jan;37(1):9-22. doi: 10.1177/0748233720977399. Epub 2020 Dec 9.
Printing workers experience a high rate of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). This study aims to determine the prevalence of MSDs, estimate serum biomarkers denoting musculoskeletal tissue changes, and determine some individual risk factors for MSDs among Egyptian printing workers.
Eighty-five male printing workers and 90 male administrative employees (control group) were recruited from a printing press in Giza. A validated version of the standardized Nordic questionnaire was used. Serum biomarkers of inflammation (interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and C-reactive protein (CRP)), cell stress or injury (malondialdehyde (MDA) and creatine kinase skeletal muscle (CK-MM)), and collagen metabolism (collagen-I carboxy-terminal propeptide (PICP) and type-I collagen cross-linked C-telopeptide (CTx)) were measured for all participants.
This study showed a significant ( < 0.001) prevalence of the musculoskeletal symptoms (76.5%) and significant ( < 0.001) elevation in the levels of all measured biomarkers among the printing workers (means ± SD: IL-1α = 1.55 ± 0.9, IL-1β = 1.53 ± 0.87, IL-6 = 1.55 ± 0.85, TNF-α = 4.9 ± 2.25, CRP = 6.78 ± 3.07, MDA = 3.41 ± 1.29, CK-MM = 132.47 ± 69.01, PICP = 103.48 ± 36.44, and CTx = 0.47 ± 0.16) when compared with their controls (prevalence: 34.4%; means ± SD: IL-1α = 0.88 ± 0.61, IL-1β = 0.96 ± 0.72, IL-6 = 1.03 ± 0.75, TNF-α = 2.56 ± 1.99, CRP = 2.36 ± 1.1, MDA = 0.85 ± 0.21, CK-MM = 53.48 ± 33.05, PICP = 56.49 ± 9.05, and CTx = 0.31 ± 0.06). Also, significant ( < 0.001) positive strong associations were observed between age, body mass index (BMI), and the duration of employment with all measured biomarkers, where all correlation coefficients were >0.7.
Printing workers suffer a high prevalence of work-related MSDs that might be related to some individual factors (age, BMI, and duration of employment). Consequently, preventive ergonomic interventions should be applied. Further studies should be done to elucidate the link between tissue changes and detected biomarkers to follow the initiation and progression of MSDs and study the effectiveness of curative interventions.
印刷工人肌肉骨骼疾病（MSD）的发生率较高。本研究旨在确定埃及印刷工人 MSD 的患病率，估计表示肌肉骨骼组织变化的血清生物标志物，并确定 MSD 的一些个体危险因素。
从吉萨的一家印刷公司招募了 85 名男性印刷工人和 90 名男性行政员工（对照组）。使用标准化的北欧问卷的经过验证的版本。对所有参与者测量了炎症的血清生物标志物（白细胞介素（IL）-1α、IL-1β、IL-6、肿瘤坏死因子（TNF）-α和 C 反应蛋白（CRP））、细胞应激或损伤（丙二醛（MDA）和肌酸激酶骨骼肌（CK-MM））以及胶原蛋白代谢（I 型胶原羧基末端前肽（PICP）和 I 型胶原交联 C-端肽（CTX））。
本研究显示，印刷工人中肌肉骨骼症状的患病率（<0.001）和所有测量生物标志物的水平均显著升高（<0.001）（平均值±SD：IL-1α=1.55±0.9，IL-1β=1.53±0.87，IL-6=1.55±0.85，TNF-α=4.9±2.25，CRP=6.78±3.07，MDA=3.41±1.29，CK-MM=132.47±69.01，PICP=103.48±36.44，CTX=0.47±0.16）与对照组相比（患病率：34.4%；平均值±SD：IL-1α=0.88±0.61，IL-1β=0.96±0.72，IL-6=1.03±0.75，TNF-α=2.56±1.99，CRP=2.36±1.1，MDA=0.85±0.21，CK-MM=53.48±33.05，PICP=56.49±9.05，CTX=0.31±0.06）。此外，年龄、体重指数（BMI）和就业年限与所有测量的生物标志物之间存在显著（<0.001）的正强相关性，所有相关系数均>0.7。
印刷工人患与工作相关的 MSD 的患病率较高，这可能与一些个体因素（年龄、BMI 和就业年限）有关。因此，应实施预防的人体工程学干预措施。应进一步开展研究，以阐明组织变化与检测到的生物标志物之间的联系，以跟踪 MSD 的发生和进展，并研究治疗干预措施的效果。
