Blood-lead levels in patients with chronic liver diseases

The role of trace elements on hepatitis virus infections: a review

The significance of the nutritional roles of trace metals (includes some heavy metals) is widely recognized, since these elements are as constituent components of many metal proteins and metalloenzymes serum trace metals levels, and their ratios are frequently reported to be good marker for diagnosing various diseases. Trace metals play an important role in liver disease particularly liver degeneration. Influence of trace elements has been studied in a large number of viruses belonging to different groups. This review reported the role of some trace elements iron (Fe), copper (Cu), cobalt (Co), manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn) as well as toxic elements Pb on hepatitis virus infections.

Lead and ethanol coexposure: implications on the dopaminergic system and associated behavioral functions

The present investigation involves ethanol's effects on the lead-induced alterations in the dopaminergic system. Ethanol, at a dose of 3 g/kg body weight for 8 weeks, resulted in a marked increase in the accumulation of lead in the blood and brain of animals receiving 50 mg lead/kg body weight. Levels of dopamine were found to decrease significantly, and were accompanied with increased norepinephrine levels in lead and ethanol coexposed animals. Uptake of tyrosine as well as the activities of tyrosine hydroxylase and monoamine oxidase were seen to increase significantly in lead as well as ethanol-treated animals, and these were increased to a greater extent when animals were administered lead and ethanol simultaneously. Dopamine receptor binding studies revealed a significant elevation in the number of binding sites in lead and ethanol-coexposed animals. The altered dopaminergic functions were reflected by the neurobehavioral deficits in terms of motor incoordination, aggressiveness, and hyperactivity of animals exposed to lead, the effect being more pronounced in lead- and ethanol-coexposed animals. In brief, results of this study suggests that ethanol potentiates lead-induced cellular damage at the neurochemical and neurobehavioral level.

Influence of the degree of exposure to lead on relations between alcohol consumption and the biological indices of lead exposure: epidemiological study in a lead acid battery factory

Alcohol has been shown to interact with lead to influence haem biosynthesis. The aim of this study was to define the dependence of this interaction on the degree of exposure to lead. Exposure to alcohol was estimated by measurement of alcohol concentrations in a sample of urine collected during the morning (AlcUM) (0.82 (SD 4.36) mmol/l) and in a sample collected during the afternoon (AlcUA) (1.15 (SD 3.49) mmol/l). The biological monitoring of exposure to lead included measurements of blood lead (Pb-B) (1.82 (SD 0.72) mumol/l), urinary delta-aminolaevulinic acid (ALAU) (35.33 (SD 28.00) mumol/l; d = 1.015), and erythrocyte zinc-protoporphyrin (ZPP) (112.90 (SD 83.71) nmol/mmol Hb) concentrations. The study of the influence of the degree of occupational exposure to lead on relations between alcohol consumption and effects of the exposure to lead led to the consideration of two different groups--namely, mildly and strongly exposed subjects. In the first group, individual biological susceptibility seemed to play a preponderant part. In the second, the pool of lead present in the body seemed to be sufficiently important to mask the effects of individual susceptibility.

Is zinc a reliable biochemical marker of chronic alcoholism in the overall context of a medico-legal autopsy?

The purpose of our investigation is to appreciate the usefulness of zinc determination in the human body with regard to the tracing of chronic alcoholism at forensic autopsies. The analysis of zinc was performed in vitreous humour and in skeletal muscle. Our results tend to prove that, in post-mortem material, zinc is not a suitable marker of chronic alcoholism. Furthermore one has to take into account the frequent contamination during collection and storage of the samples and also the post-mortem increase of zinc in the vitreous humour due to autolysis.