Insight into hematological parameters of petrol station workers.

OBJECTIVE: Benzene is one of the major carcinogenic factors that can affect liver, kidneys, and lungs. Chronic inhalation of benzene vapor by petrol stations workers has been shown to have an impact on hematological parameters; thus, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of benzene exposure on petrol station workers. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study involved 99 participants, 50 of whom have been exposed to benzene and 49 of whom have not (control). A 5 ml blood sample in an ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) anticoagulant tube was collected from each subject, and a complete blood count test was used to test hematological parameters. RESULTS: The current study showed a significant decrease in red blood cells, packed cell volume, and hemoglobin in the exposed group compared to the control group. However, the amount of white blood cells was significantly increased (p < 0.0001) in the exposed group compared to the control group. Notably, there was no significant difference in platelet counts between the two groups. In terms of exposure time, subjects who have been exposed to benzene for more than a year and fewer than 10 years showed a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in RBCs indices and a significant increase (p < 0.0001) in WBCs compared to those in the control group CONCLUSIONS: Thus, the findings indicated that significant differences in hematological parameters were found in workers who were exposed to benzene compared to those who had not been exposed.

Hydroxyl radical modification of human serum albumin generated cross reactive antibodies.

Hydroxyl radical-mediated in vitro modification of human serum albumin (HSA) showed 59.2% hyperchromicity at lambdamax, 30% loss of alpha helical structure and 71.4% loss of tryptophan fluorescence. The reactive oxygen species (ROS)-modified HSA was highly immunogenic in rabbits as compare to native HSA. The antibody binding was inhibited to the extent of 97% with the immunogen as inhibitor, indicating the induction of immunogen specific antibodies. Experimentally induced antibodies against modified HSA exhibited diverse antigen binding characteristics. Native plasmid DNA, ROS-modified plasmid DNA and ROS-chromatin were found to be an effective inhibitor of induced antibody-immunogen interaction. Induced antibodies against native HSA showed negligible binding to the above mentioned nucleic acid antigens. Band shift assay reiterated the recognition towards nucleic acid antigens. Thus, the induced antibodies against *OH modified HSA resembled the diverse antigen-binding characteristics of naturally occurring systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) anti-DNA autoantibodies.