Increased levels of urinary nitrite and nitrotyrosine in Yusho victims 40 years after accidental poisoning with polychlorinated biphenyls in Nagasaki, Japan

✍ Scribed by Kazuhiro Shimizu; Fumihide Ogawa; Jens J. Thiele; Jeong Boem Lee; SangJae Bae; Shinichi Sato

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 221 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0260-437X
• DOI: 10.1002/jat.1370

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Forty years have passed since the accidental poisoning with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in Japan in 1968, named Yusho. High concentrations of PCB are still detected in the serum of the Yusho victims. PCB produces superoxide (O~2~^−^) in the metabolic process and we reported high concentrations of serum nitrite, a stable metabolite reflecting nitric oxide (NO), in the Yusho victims. NO reacts with O~2~^−^ and immediately produces peroxynitrite (ONOO^−^). ONOO^−^ causes nitration of tyrosine residues and produces nitrotyrosine (NT). Therefore, we measured urinary concentrations of nitrite and NT in the victims and age‐matched controls. The mean urinary concentrations of nitrite and NT were significantly higher than in the controls. There was a positive correlation between urinary nitrite and NT in the Yusho victims. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between the ratio of urinary NT to nitrite and serum PCB concentrations in the Yusho victims. It was considered that the emergence of some ailments could be presumed to have been caused by high levels of urinary nitrite and NT in the Yusho victims. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.