Biomarkers for hazard identification in humans

BACKGROUND Oxidative stress enhances lipid peroxidation (LPO), which both are implicated in the promotion and progression stages of carcinogenesis, in particular under conditions of chronic inflammation and infections. Exocyclic etheno-DNA adducts, which are formed by LPO-products such as 4-hydroxy -2-nonenal, are strongly pro-mutagenic DNA lesions. METHODS The development of ultra-sensitive detection methods for etheno-adducts in human tissues, white blood cells( WBC) and urine has provided evidence that these adducts are elevated in affected organs of cancer-prone patients, probably acting as a driving force to malignancy. RESULTS Two recent studies that yielded some new insights into disease causation are briefly reviewed: DNA-damage in WBC of mother-newborn child pairs, and lipid peroxidation derived DNA damage in patients with cancer-prone liver diseases. Our results indicate that biomonitoring of etheno-DNA adducts in humans are promising tools (i) to better understand disease aetiopathogenesis, allowing hazard identification(ii) to monitor disease progression and (iii) to verify the efficacy of chemopreventive and therapeutic interventions. Such clinical trials are warranted.