Sex-related changes in gene expression patterns of adults exposed to arsenic contaminated drinking water. Homo sapiens

Arsenic contamination of drinking water occurs globally and is associated with numerous diseases including skin, lung, and bladder cancers, and cardiovascular disease. The mechanisms behind arsenic's effects remain unclear, but recent research indicates that aresnic acts along sex-specific lines and may be an endocrine disruptor. The objective of this study was to evaluate the nature of gene expression chagnes among males and females exposed to arsenic contaminated water in Bangladesh at high and low dose exposures.The median wAs concentration for the low exposure group was 103 µg/L for males and 117 µg/L for females (range 50–200 µg/L). For the high exposure group, the median wAs concentration was 355 µg /L for males (range 250-500 µg /L) and 434 µg/L for females (range 232–1000 µg /L). The PBMCs of males with high exposure compared to those with low exposure there were 534 differentially expressed genes (p <0.05); and for females with high exposure relative to low exposure there were 645 differentially expressed genes (p <0.05) in PBMCs of females. Overall design: We obtained peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) RNA from 29 human subjects exposed to arsenic contaminated drinking water in Bangladesh. PBMC RNA was labelled and hybridized to Affymetrix 1.0 ST arrays. We compared the gene expression profiles of 9 males with relatively low exposure versus the 6 males with relatively high exposure; and the 6 females with relatively low exposure versus 7 females with relatively high exposure. humans exposed to arsenic contaminated drinking water at high and low doses