Somatic mtDNA mutations in lung tissues of pesticide-exposed fruit growers

Some pesticides have been considered potential chemical mutagens and their widespread use involves the assessment of their potentially hazardous effects. The mitochondrial genome is especially prone to DNA damage and thus can serve as a biomarker to monitor the genotoxicity of pesticides to human DNA. We performed a screening for somatic mutations in lung tissues from pesticide-exposed fruit growers, by direct comparing the entire mtDNA sequences of the lung tissue and the matched peripheral blood from the same individual. A phylogenetic approach and a high standard procedure were utilized to avoid potential errors in data generation and analysis. We observed a significantly increased frequency of mtDNA somatic mutations in lung tissues which had been exposed to pesticides multiple times by inhalation, and the potential biological significance of these mutations was further discussed. The samples represented in this observational study, which has multiple exposures to pesticides, experience a significant greater incidence of mtDNA mutations, suggesting that multiple exposures to pesticides could damage human mtDNA and cause somatic mutations.