Heena Gulia, Soniya Jangra and Anil Kumar
Abstract
It is suggested that genetic polymorphisms of xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes can affect susceptibility to pesticide exposures. Pesticide metabolism may be affected by variants in cytochrome P450 (CYP) genes, thereby altering exposure risk. To assess the relationship between exposure to pesticides and the polymorphisms of the genes CYP2C9 (*2, *3) and CYP2D6 (*3, *4) in pesticide-exposed workers. This case control study evaluated polymorphisms in CYP2C9*2 (rs1799853), CYP2C9*3 (rs1057910), CYP2D6*3 (rs35742686), and CYP2D6*4 (rs3892097) in pesticide-exposed workers (n=154) and matched controls (n=138) from North India. Allele frequencies were compared using odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) and associations with exposure were assessed. Significant differences were observed for CYP2C9*2 (T allele: 0.192 vs. 0.127; OR: 1.632, CI: 1.036-2.569, p: 0.042) and CYP2D6*4 (A allele: 0.1656 vs. 0.0942; OR: 1.90; CI: 1.153-3.157; p: 0.014) between exposed and control groups. However, the Del allele of CYP2D6*3 was more common among pesticide-exposed workers than controls (0.237 vs. 0.178; OR: 1.636; CI: 1.028 2.605; p: 0.038). No variant allele of CYP2C9*3 was found in the study populations. This study indicates that genetic polymorphisms at CYP2C9*2, CYP2D6*3, and CYP2D6*4 may account for differences in susceptibility to pesticide exposure, possibly because of the effect on xenobiotic metabolism.