Polymorphisms in ERCC1, ERCC4 and ERCC5 genes as biomarkers of susceptibility for pesticide-induced DNA damage in North-West Indian agricultural workers

Background: Occupational pesticides exposure has raised health concerns due to genotoxicity and accumulation of DNA damage. Polymorphisms in genes encoding enzymes involved in nucleotide excision repair (NER) may affect the individual's susceptibility to pesticide toxicity.Methods: This study evaluates the association of excision repair cross complementation group 1 (ERCC1) (8092 C > A, 3'UTR, rs3212986) and ERCC1 (19007 C > T, Asn118Asn, rs11615), ERCC4 (1244 G > A, Arg415Gln, rs1800067) and ERCC5 (3507 G > C, Asp1104His, rs17655) polymorphisms with pesticide-induced DNA damage in North-West Indian agricultural workers. The study population comprised 225 agricultural workers exposed to pesticides and 225 non-exposed controls.Results: Our study demonstrate that exposed workers carrying variant ERCC1 8092AA genotype showed higher total comet DNA migration (p = 0.015) as well as increased frequency of cells showing DNA migration (p = 0.027). Exposed agricultural workers with variant ERCC4 1244AA (415Gln/Gln) and ERCC5 3507CC (1104His/His) genotypes exhibited elevation in total comet DNA migration (p < 0.01). However, genotypes of ERCC1 19007 C > T (Asn118Asn) showed no association with total comet DNA migration (p = 0.963), frequency of cells showing DNA migration (p = 0.423) as well as mean tail length (p = 0.432).Conclusion: ERCC1, ERCC4 and ERCC5 polymorphisms influence DNA damage and can be used as biomarkers of susceptibility for pesticide-induced DNA damage in North-West Indian agricultural workers.