Association between heat-shock protein 70 gene polymorphisms and DNA damage in peripheral blood lymphocytes among coke-oven workers

Hsp70 has been shown to act as a chaperone and be associated with cytoprotection against DNA damage caused by environmental stresses. However, it is unknown whether genetic variation in HSP70 plays a role in stress tolerance and cytoprotection against DNA damage. We determined the frequencies of three polymorphisms, HSP70-1 G190C, HSP70-2 G1267A, and HSP70-hom T2437C from 251 steel-plant workers exposed to coke-oven emission and 130 controls. We estimated the association between the HSP70 variants/haplotypes and the levels of DNA damage in their peripheral blood lymphocytes detected by single-cell gel electrophoresis assay. Our results showed that overall coke-oven workers had higher levels of the Olive tail moment (Olive TM) (1.27 ± 1.12) than that of the controls (0.56 ± 0.99, P < 0.001). Coke-oven workers with the HSP70-1 C/C genotype had higher levels of Olive TM (2.19 ± 0.65), compared with HSP70-1 G/C and G/G carriers (Olive TM = 1.34 ± 1.09 and 1.14 ± 1.08, respectively, P = 0.022 and 0.003, respectively). However, the HSP70-2 G1267A and HSP70-hom T2437C polymorphisms were not associated with the levels of Olive TM (P = 0.929 and 0.795, respectively). Haplotype analysis showed that carriers of TCG/TCG haplotype pairs had the highest levels of Olive TM among both the exposed subjects (2.04 ± 0.59) and the controls (0.81 ± 0.59). Our results suggest that the individuals with the homozygous HSP70-1 C/C genotype among the coke-oven workers may be susceptible to DNA damage.