Different susceptibility to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)-induced DNA damage in lung tissue in male and female non-smokers

The levels of benzo(a)pyrene diol-epoxide (BPDE)-DNA adducts and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were analysed in a limited number of samples of autoptic lung tissue obtained from non-professionally exposed male (n= 13) and female (n= 12) non-smokers in an attempt to evaluate the relationship between gender, lung PAH levels (n= 25) and susceptibility to BPDE-DNA adduct formation (n= 18). Lung concentrations of chrysene, benzo(g,h,i)perylene and benzo(a)pyrene were significantly higher in males than in females (P < 0.05), whereas BPDE-DNA adduct levels were similar in both genders: 1.64 ± 0.42 per 108 bases (µ ± SE) in males (n = 9) and 1.88 ± 0.64 per 108 bases in females (n = 9). Although the sample size of this study precludes any generalization, the observed data suggest that there is a potentially higher risk of PAH-induced lung DNA damage in females than in males.