AhR transcriptional activity in serum of Inuits across Greenlandic districts

Table 3 The serum levels of AhR transcriptional activity of subjects of the different district

Men		Nuuk	Sisimiut	Qaanaaq	Tasiilaq	All
AhR-TEQ¹ (pg/g lipid)	n	21	42	38	38	139
	median	166	189	110*	240	153
	mean	206	247	118	296	219
	min-max	95 – 1019	26 – 1202	58 – 271	98 – 1452	26 – 1452
	% agonist	79	88	100	97	91
AhRcomp² (RLU/μg protein)	n	38	51	43	38	170
	median	0.78*	1.21	1.35	1.04	1.15
	mean	0.82	1.24	1.38	1.12	1.15
	min-max	0.38 – 1.18	0.59 – 2.46	0.77 – 2.17	0.31 – 3.24	0.31 – 3.24
	% increase	0	44	54	29	33
	% inhibition	32	4	2	32	16
Women
AhR-TEQ¹ (pg/g lipid)	n	12	32	32	44	120
	median	235	188	122*	228	167
	mean	326	221	131	332	248
	min-max	115 – 1055	93 – 1032	63 – 259	100 – 1987	63 – 1987
	% agonist	64	64	100	91	79
AhRcomp² (RLU/μg protein)	n	45	42	36	44	167
	median	1.41	1.33	1.31	1.28	1.32
	mean	1.50	1.38	1.33	1.92	1.54
	min-max	0.9 – 4.54	0.94 – 3.88	0.74 – 1.87	0.25 – 15	0.25 – 15
	% increase	49	64	58	46	54
	% inhibition	0	0	11	21	8
Men + Women
AhR-TEQ¹ (pg/g lipid)	n	33	74	70	82	259
	median	188	189	115	239	161
	mean	250	236	124	315	232
	min-max	94 – 1055	26 – 1202	58 – 271	98 – 1987	26 – 1987
	% agonist	71	76	100	94	85
AhRcomp² (RLU/μg protein)	n	83	93	79	82	337
	median	1.08	1.26	1.33	1.18	1.23
	mean	1.19	1.30	1.36	1.55	1.35
	min-max	0.38 – 4.54	0.59 – 3.88	0.74 – 2.17	0.25 – 15	0.25 – 15
	% increase	27	53	56	38	43
	% inhibition	15	2	6	26	12

¹AhR-TEQ (TCDD equivalents): The AhR-TEQ of samples eliciting significantly agonistic activity was calculated by interpolation to the TCDD dose-response curve using the Sigmaplot program, given as pg/g serum lipid. The % agonistic indicates the % of samples eliciting a significant increase in AhR activity compared to the solvent control. ²AhRcomp: AhR competitive activity of serum extract + 60 pM TCDD (EC₅₀) given as RLU/μg protein. EC₅₀ solvent control = 1 RLU/μg protein; % increase and % inhibition indicates the % of samples responding with a further increase or decrease of the EC₅₀ _(TCDD) induced activity, respectively. *: p < 0.05 versus subjects from other districts.

ISSN: 1476-069X