Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Mahatma Gandhi Marg, Lucknow, India.
J Trace Elem Med Biol. 2010 Jul;24(3):207-11. doi: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2010.01.002. Epub 2010 Feb 1.
Information about the health risks or the subtle adverse health effects that might be associated with low-level lead exposure on micronutrient metabolism are scarce in the literature. The present work investigated the subtle adverse health effects of exposure to progressively low levels of lead on the metabolism of two micronutrients, copper and zinc in different tissues of the rat. Rats were exposed to 200, 300 and 400 ppm lead in their drinking water for 12 weeks. Lead, copper and zinc concentrations were determined in blood, liver, kidney, heart, spleen and brain of the animals. While the imbalance in zinc metabolism was characterized by a deposition of zinc in the kidney and to a lesser extent in the heart of the animals, imbalance in copper metabolism was characterized by a depletion of blood and splenic copper concentrations as well as renal and cardiac accumulation of copper. Hepatic and brain copper and zinc contents, together with blood zinc were not affected by the 12-week lead exposure. A linear relationship was observed between lead dose and lead accumulation in the spleen, whereas a non-linear relationship was observed between lead dose and lead accumulation in blood, liver, kidney and heart. Our findings indicate that exposure to progressively low-level lead concentrations results in imbalance in copper and zinc in the organism and this might be a factor in propensity toward behavioral disorders observed in lead exposure.
关于低水平铅暴露对微量营养素代谢可能产生的健康风险或微妙的不良健康影响的信息在文献中很少。本研究调查了暴露于逐渐降低的铅水平对大鼠不同组织中两种微量营养素（铜和锌）代谢的微妙不良健康影响。大鼠在饮用水中暴露于 200、300 和 400ppm 的铅 12 周。测定动物血液、肝脏、肾脏、心脏、脾脏和大脑中的铅、铜和锌浓度。锌代谢失衡的特征是锌在肾脏中的沉积，在一定程度上也在心脏中沉积，而铜代谢失衡的特征是血液和脾脏铜浓度以及肾脏和心脏铜积累减少。肝和脑铜和锌含量以及血液锌不受 12 周铅暴露的影响。在脾中观察到铅剂量与铅积累之间呈线性关系，而在血液、肝脏、肾脏和心脏中观察到铅剂量与铅积累之间呈非线性关系。我们的发现表明，暴露于逐渐降低的铅浓度会导致体内铜和锌的失衡，这可能是铅暴露导致行为障碍倾向的一个因素。
