Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2005 Sep;113(9):1226-9.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.7806.

Baseline micronuclei frequency in children: estimates from meta- and pooled analyses

Monica Neri  1 , Marcello Ceppi, Lisbeth E Knudsen, Domenico Franco Merlo, Roberto Barale, Riccardo Puntoni, Stefano Bonassi
Affiliations

Baseline micronuclei frequency in children: estimates from meta- and pooled analyses

Monica Neri et al. Environ Health Perspect. 2005 Sep.

Abstract

The number of studies evaluating the effect of environmental exposure to genotoxic agents in children has rapidly increased in the last few years. The frequency of micronuclei (MN) in peripheral blood lymphocytes determined with the cytokinesis block assay is among the most popular biomarkers used for this purpose, although large inter- and intralaboratory variability of this end point has been observed in population studies. The availability of reference measures is therefore necessary for laboratories to validate protocols and analytical procedures, and for molecular epidemiologists, as well, to estimate the statistical power of studies and to assess the quality of data. In this article, we provide estimates of the baseline frequency of MN in children, conducting a meta-analysis of MN frequency reported by field studies in children and a pooled analysis of individual data [available from published studies and from the Human Micronucleus International Collaborative Study (HUMN) database]. Thirteen articles were selected for meta-analysis, and individual data included in the pooled analysis were retrieved from the databases of 12 laboratories. Overall means of 4.48 [95% confidence interval (CI), 3.35-5.98] and 5.70 (95% CI, 4.29-7.56) MN per 1,000 binucleated cells were estimated by the meta- and pooled analysis, respectively. A clear effect of age was detected, even within the restricted range of pediatric age considered, with significantly lower frequency values in newborns. No influence of sex was found. The study showed the advantage of using data from large collaborative studies and suggested a synergistic use of meta- and pooled analysis.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Andreassi MG, Botto N. DNA damage as a new emerging risk factor in atherosclerosis. Trends Cardiovasc Med. 2003;13:270–275. - PubMed
    1. Barale R, Chelotti L, Davini T, Del Ry S, Andreassi MG, Ballardin M, et al. Sister chromatid exchange and micronucleus frequency in human lymphocytes of 1,650 subjects in an Italian population. II. Contribution of sex, age, and lifestyle. Environ Mol Mutagen. 1998;31:228–242. - PubMed
    1. Bilban M, Vaupotic J. Chromosome aberrations study of pupils in high radon level elementary school. Health Phys. 2001;80:157–163. - PubMed
    1. Bolognesi C, Abbondandolo A, Barale R, Casalone R, Dalprà L, De Ferrari M, et al. Age-related increase of chromosome aberrations, sister-chromatid exchanges and micronuclei in human lymphocytes. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1997;6:249–256. - PubMed
    1. Bonassi S, Bolognesi C, Abbondandolo A, Barale R, Bigatti P, Camurri L, et al. Influence of sex on cytogenetic end points: evidence from a large human sample and review of the literature. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1995;4:671–679. - PubMed

Publication types