Environmental Health Perspectives 105, Supplement 6, December 1997

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Somatic Mutations at the Glycophorin A (GPA) Locus Measured in Red Cells of Chernobyl Liquidators Who Immigrated to Israel

Vered Y. Wishkerman,1,2 Michael R. Quastel,1 Amos Douvdevani,2 and John R. Goldsmith3

Departments of 1Nuclear Medicine, 2Nephrology, 3Epidemiology, Soroka Medical Center and Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel

Abstract
Glycophorin A (GPA) assays for human erythrocytes with gene expression loss and duplication phenotypes (NØ, NN) were carried out on 15 Chernobyl clean-up workers (liquidators) who immigrated to Israel within the preceding 5 years, 19 local Israeli controls, and 14 Russian (nonliquidator) immigrants. GPA phenotype variants in red blood cells of the 15 liquidators showed values ranging from 1 to 101 events/106 cells, with a mean ±SD of 25.6 ±7.0. In comparison, the 19 Israeli controls had values ranging from 0 to 13 GPA events per 106 cells, with a mean ±SD of 3.9±0.8. The difference was highly significant (p<0.001). Another group of 14 volunteer control subjects (nonliquidators) who had emigrated from the former Soviet Union to Israel during the past 5 years showed values ranging from 0.0 to 35.0 events per 106 cells, with a mean ±SD of 6.1±2.7. The difference between this group and the liquidator group was significant at p<0.01. The results are compatible with past exposure to radiation in the group identified as liquidators. -- Environ Health Perspect 105(Suppl 6):1451-1454 (1997)

Keywords: radiation, Chernobyl, clean-up workers, liquidators, glycophorin A, biological dosimetry, biological indicators of exposure

This paper is based on a presentation at the International Conference on Radiation and Health held 3-7 November 1996 in Beer Sheva, Israel. Abstracts of these papers were previously published in Public Health Reviews 24(3-4):205-431 (1996). Manuscript received at EHP 12 August 1997; accepted 2 October 1997.

We thank L. Merkin and S. Poljak for finding and interviewing the liquidators and making blood samples available. The authors express their appreciation to I. Yevelson and J. Cwikel for locating appropriate control subjects from the former Soviet Union.

Address correspondence to Prof. M.R. Quastel, Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Soroka Medical Center, P.O. Box 151, Beer Sheva, Israel 84101. Telephone: 972-7-6400754 or 940. Fax: 972-7-6400765. E-mail: maay100@bgumail.bgu.ac.il

Abbreviations used: FACS, fluorescence-activated cell sorter; FITC, fluorescein isothiocyanate; FSU, former Soviet Union; GPA, glycophorin A; NØ, NN, MN, phenotypes of GPA alleles; SD, standard deviation.

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