Impact of Pesticide Exposure on Base Excision Repair Gene Polymorphisms in the Haryana Population

Base excision repair (BER) plays a vital role in repairing DNA damage; however, polymorphisms in BER genes may influence an individual's susceptibility to disease risk. We investigated the role of BER genes as a biomarker of susceptibility among agricultural workers in Haryana, India. The pesticide-exposed workers (110) and unexposed controls (114) were genotyped for XRCC1 C26304T (rs1799782), XRCC1 G28152A (rs25487), APE1 T2197G (rs1130409), and OGG1 C1245G (rs1052133) using the PCR-RFLP technique. The allelic frequencies were compared using chi-square tests, with a significance level set at p < 0.05. Significant results were observed for XRCC1: rs1799782 (T allele: 0.1409 vs. 0.0658; OR: 2.32; CI: 1.08-4.99; p: 0.028) and rs25487 (A allele: 0.332 vs. 0.202; OR: 1.90; CI: 1.29-2.80; p: 0.001) between exposed and control groups. The frequency of the APE1 Glu allele was significantly lower in exposed individuals (OR: 0.49; CI: 0.31-0.78; p = 0.003). In contrast, the OGG1 Cys allele was more frequent in the exposed group; however, the difference was not statistically significant (OR: 1.43; CI: 0.91-2.23; p = 0.113). Our findings suggest that DNA repair gene polymorphism may influence an individual's susceptibility to pesticide exposure, leading to oxidative damage and genotoxic effects.