Protein adducts disadvantages

There is a variety of biomarkers that can verify an exposure to sulfur mustard. Table 61.2 shows an overview of these biomarkers. Analogous to the nerve agents, biomarkers can be distinguished in metabolites that are excreted in urine and adducts to proteins. A disadvantage of the major metabolite, thiodiglycol, is that this compoimd is also present in subjects not exposed to sulfur mustard (Black and Read, 1995 Boyer et al., 2004). In that respect, the protein adducts are more reliable biomarkers for sulfur mustard exposure because these biomarkers point unambiguously to an exposure to sulfur mustard. The sulfur mustard adduct to the N-terminal valine of globin can be analyzed after a... 

Vesicants, nerve agents, and phosgene are reactive electrophiles that react covalently with nucleophilic sites on macro molecules. Reactive nucleophilic sites exist on the bases and phosphate groups of DNA molecules. An advantage of DNA as a substrate is that it is present in all tissues of the body. A disadvantage is that repair mechanisms tend to excise the alkylated moiety, resulting in a much shorter lifetime compared to alkylated proteins (for a recent review of mass spectrometry for quantitation of DNA adducts, see Koc and Swen-berg <2>). 

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