Clinical and genetic features of toxic liver damage in workers of petrochemical enterprises

Introduction. Harmful chemicals are often used in petrochemical production, which causes them to be in the air of the work area. Penetrating into the body of workers, chemical compounds can contribute to disorders of the body's health. The formation of chemically active metabolites during the biotransformation of xenobiotics leads to damage to the abdominal organs and causes changes in peripheral blood parameters, which can be used to search for new diagnostic markers of the effects of harmful factors on health.

The study aims to consider the prognostic possibilities of biochemical and genetic indicators for the early diagnosis of toxic liver damage in workers in the chemical industry.

Materials and methods. The experts conducted a study of the health status of 114 workers of petrochemical enterprises and they found toxic liver damage in 29 workers (cohort 1). The comparison group included 92 employees of enterprises in other industries who are not in contact with industrial chemical risk factors, of which 48 people were found to have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (cohort 3). Scientists conducted clinical studies of the body in workers using biochemical, instrumental and genetic methods.

Results. A study of the prognostic capabilities of predictors of toxic liver damage demonstrated a good potential for biomarkers: the percentage of "comets" with fragmentation of more than 5% of DNA (cut-off=12.24%, Sen=79.3%, Spe=66.7%, AUC ROC=0.711; p<0.001), the average percentage of DNA in the tail of the "comet" (cut-off=2.95%, Sen=79.3%, Spe=60.5%, AUC ROC=0.727; p<0.001), aspartate aminotransferase (cut-off=25.5 U/L, Sen=86.2%, Spe=48.6%, AUC ROC=0.707; p<0.001), direct bilirubin (cut-off=3.05 mmol/L, Sen=72.4%, Spe=75.7%, AUC ROC=0.752; p<0.001).

Conclusion. The results of the study indicate the high prognostic capabilities of certain genetic biomarkers (the percentage of "comets" with fragmentation of more than 5% of DNA, the average percentage of DNA in the tail of the "comet") to differentiate cases of production-related toxic liver damage from cases of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the early stages of pathology formation.

Ethics. The study was carried out in accordance with the fundamental documents of the Russian Federation and the international principles of research ethics (minutes of the meeting of the bioethical commission of the Ufa Scientific Research Institute of Occupational Health and Human Ecology of Rospotrebnadzor No. 01-09 dated 30.09.2024).

Limitations. The results obtained are limited by the number of participants (223 workers) and the capabilities of the research methods used (clinical, sonographic, single-cell agarose gel electrophoresis, statistical, ROC analysis).

Contributions:
Kudoyarov E.R. — research concept and design, data collection and processing, text writing;
Ivanova D.P. — data collection and processing;
Bakirov A.B. — research concept and design, editing;
Kalimullina D.Kh. — editing;
Galiullina D.M. — data collection and processing;
Mironova G.R. — data collection and processing.

Funding. The study had no funding.

Conflict of interests. The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Received: 15.11.2024 / Accepted: 02.12.2024 / Published: 07.02.2025

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