The Evaluation of Frequencies of Cytogenetic Biomarkers in Lymphocyte of Residents from High Natural Radiation Area in West Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract

Residents living in high natural radiation areas may pose health consequences such as cancer. The study aims to evaluate the frequencies of cytogenetic biomarkers covering micronuclei (MN), nucleoplasmic bridge (NPB), and nuclear bud (NBUD) with the cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assay. This cross-sectional study was done on 51 blood lymphocytes from the resident of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, Indonesia that was done according to standard procedure. After being stained with Giemsa solution, these biomarkers were observed on about 1,000 binucleated cells. The results showed a low frequency of MN (0.0162 in 36,091 cells) and extremely low frequencies of other biomarkers (0.00019 and 0.00061 for NPB and NBUD, respectively) in the study area, whereas these were 0.0225 MNs in 15,000 cells, and 0.00013 and 0.00120 for NPB and NBUD, respectively, in the control area. MNs and NBUDs were lower in the study area compared to control. No statistically significant differences (p>0.05) in NPB were found between the two areas, but not for NBUD. The frequencies of MN and NPB in female is higher than that of male in both areas. In the control group, males experienced a decrease in the number of NPB to 0.7 times compared to females, and every extra one year of age, 1.047 times more NBUDs were found. None of the confounding factors was influenced in the study group. It was concluded that there is no impact of high natural radiation to the local residents based on cytogenetics evaluation, with a note that further studies on a higher number of samples and other relevant biomarkers are required.