Children of Chernobyl Cleanup Workers do not Show Elevated Rates of Mutations in Minisatellite Alleles

Title: Children of Chernobyl Cleanup Workers do not Show Elevated Rates of Mutations in Minisatellite Alleles

Author: L. A. Livshits, S. G. Malyarchuk, E. M. Lukyanova, Y. G. Antipkin, L. P. Arabskaya, S. A. Kravchenko, G. H. Matsuka , E. Petit, F. Giraudeau, P. Gourmelon, G. Vergnaud , and B. Le Guen

Reference: Radiation Research 155(1):74-80. 2001

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1667/0033-7587(2001)155[0074:COCCWD]2.0.CO;2

Keywords : children, cleanup workers, mutations, minisatellite

Abstract: The disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in April 1986 was accompanied by the release of large amounts of radioisotopes, resulting in the contamination of extensive regions of the Ukraine, Byelorus and the Russian Federation. Cleanup workers (liquidators) and people living on land contaminated with radioactive materials were most exposed. To assess the genetic effects of exposure to ionizing radiation after the Chernobyl accident, we have measured the frequency of inherited mutant alleles at seven hypermutable minisatellite loci in 183 children born to Chernobyl cleanup workers (liquidators) and 163 children born to control families living in nonirradiated areas of the Ukraine. There was no significant difference in the frequency of inherited mutant alleles between the exposed and control groups. The exposed group was then divided into two subgroups according to the time at which the children were conceived with respect to the fathers’ work at the power plant. Eighty-eight children were conceived either while their fathers were working at the facility or up to 2 months later (Subgroup 1). The other 95 children were conceived at least 4 months after their fathers had stopped working at the Chernobyl site (Subgroup 2). The frequencies of mutant alleles were higher for the majority of loci (i.e. 1.44 times higher for CEB1) in Subgroup 1 than in Subgroup 2. This result, if confirmed, would reconcile the apparently conflicting results obtained in the chronically exposed Byelorus population and the Hiroshima-Nagasaki A-bomb survivors.

ＵＲＬ：http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.166/0033-7587%282001%29155%5B0074%3ACOCCWD%5D2.0.CO%3B2?prevSearch=chernobyl&searchHistoryKey=&queryHash=05c5bf600dfdc400aa01511958fb5e34

Elevated Minisatellite Mutation Rate in the Post-Chernobyl Families from Ukraine

Title: Elevated Minisatellite Mutation Rate in the Post-Chernobyl Families from Ukraine

Author: Yuri E. Dubrova, Gemma Grant, Anatoliy A. Chumak, Vasyl A. Stezhka, Angela N. Karakasian

Reference: Am. J. Hum. Genet. 71:801–809, 2002

DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/342729

Keywords:Germline mutation, minisatellite, Ukraine

Abstract: Germline mutation at eight human minisatellite loci has been studied among families from rural areas of the Kiev and Zhitomir regions of Ukraine, which were heavily contaminated by radionuclides after the Chernobyl accident. The control and exposed groups were composed of families containing children conceived before and after the Chernobyl accident, respectively. The groups were matched by ethnicity, maternal age, parental occupation, and smoking habits, and they differed only slightly by paternal age. A statistically significant 1.6-fold increase in mutation rate was found in the germline of exposed fathers, whereas the maternal germline mutation rate in the exposed families was not elevated. These data, together with the results of our previous analysis of the exposed families from Belarus, suggest that the elevated minisatellite mutation rate can be attributed to post-Chernobyl radioactive exposure. The mechanisms of mutation induction at human minisatellite loci are discussed.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002929707603668

Mini-and microsatellite mutations in children from Chernobyl accident cleanup workers

Title: Mini-and microsatellite mutations in children from Chernobyl accident cleanup workers

Author: Robbert J.C Slebos, Ruth E Little, David M Umbach, Yurij Antipkin, Tamara D Zadaorozhnaja, Nikola A Mendel, Courtney A Sommer, Kathleen Conway, Eloise Parrish, Sara Gulino, Jack A Taylor

Reference: Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis, Volume 559, Issues 1–2, 11 April 2004, Pages 143-151

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mrgentox.2004.01.003

Keywords: Minisatellite, Microsatellite, Germline mutation, Chernobyl accident

Abstract: Knowledge about possible genotoxic effects of low-dose radiation on the human germline is limited and relies primarily on extrapolations from high-dose exposures. To test whether ionizing radiation can cause paternal genetic mutations that are transmitted to offspring, we enrolled families of 88 Chernobyl cleanup workers exposed to ionizing radiation. We analyzed DNA isolated from lymphocytes for mutations via DNA blotting with the multi-locus minisatellite probes 33.6 and 33.15 and via PCR in a panel of six tetranucleotide repeats. Children conceived before and children conceived after their father’s exposure showed no statistically significant differences in mutation frequencies. We saw an increase in germline microsatellite mutations after radiation exposure that was not statistically significant. We found no dependence of mutation rate on increasing exposure. A novel finding was that the tetranucleotide marker D7S1482 demonstrated germline hypermutability. In conclusion, our results do not support an increased level of germline minisatellite mutations but suggest a modest increase in germline mutations in tetranucleotide repeats. Small sample size, however, limited statistical power.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1383571804000099