代谢组学技术在职业卫生研究领域中的应用现况

A review on application of metabolomic approaches in occupational health research

  • 摘要: 代谢组学是后基因组时代新兴的组学技术,是通过定性定量分析生物体受影响或干扰后(如特定的基因变异或环境变化后)其代谢谱的变化,来研究整体的生物过程及其代谢特征。职业卫生是研究职业场所工作环境或条件对职业从事者健康状况可能产生的影响的一门学科。应用代谢组学技术能够考察职业人群在职业环境暴露后代谢物的整体变化,从代谢物的角度阐明职业环境对机体健康产生的影响,这为职业卫生研究提供了新的思路。目前,在职业卫生领域化学毒物及物理因素暴露方面已开展了一些代谢组学技术的应用研究,但是文献相对较少。本文对代谢组学及其技术进行了简要介绍,综述了代谢组学技术在职业场所化学毒物如有机溶剂、高分子化合物、农药、金属及物理因素暴露研究中的应用。相较于一般人群,职业人群在职业暴露环境下内源性代谢物产生了明显变化,可能会引起机体代谢紊乱,诱发潜在的健康风险。本文还分析了当前代谢组学技术在职业卫生领域应用中存在的局限性,并对代谢组学技术在职业卫生领域的应用前景进行了展望。

     

    Abstract: Metabolomics is an emerging omics technology in the post-gene era. It studies the whole biological processes and their metabolic characteristics through qualitative and quantitative analyses on the metabolic spectrum changes of organisms after being affected or disturbed (such as specific genetic mutation or environmental changing). Occupational health is a subject to study the possible influences of workplace environment or working conditions on the health of working population. Metabolomic technology can investigate the overall changes of metabolites of workers exposed to occupational environment, and clarify the health impacts of occupational environment from the perspective of metabolites, providing a new way of thinking for the research of occupational health. Researchers of occupational health have applied metabolomic approaches in studies about exposure to chemicals and physical factors, but available literatures are limited. The paper briefly introduced metabolomics and its technology, and reviewed the application of metabolomics in the studies of exposure to chemical toxicants such as organic solvents, polymer compounds, pesticides, metals, and physical factors in workplace environment. The results showed that the endogenous metabolites of occupational populations changed significantly compared with the general population, which may cause metabolic disorder and induce potential health risks. Besides, the paper analyzed the limitations of current application of metabolomics, and predicted its application prospect in occupational health.

     

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