Faa Armando, Gerosa Clara, Fanni Daniela, Floris Giuseppe, Eyken Peter V, Lachowicz Joanna I, Nurchi Valeria M
Istituto di Anatomia Patologica, Dipartimento di Scienze Chirurgiche, University of Cagliari; AOU Cagliari, Cagliari. Italy.
Department of Pathology, KU Leuven, Leuven. Belgium.
Curr Med Chem. 2018;25(1):49-64. doi: 10.2174/0929867324666170426102343.
Depleted uranium (DU) is generally considered an emerging pollutant, first extensively introduced into environment in the early nineties in Iraq, during the military operation called "Desert Storm". DU has been hypothesized to represent a hazardous element both for soldiers exposed as well as for the inhabitants of the polluted areas in the war zones. In this review, the possible consequences on human health of DU released in the environment are critically analyzed. In the first part, the chemical properties of DU and the principal civil and military uses are summarized. A concise analysis of the mechanisms underlying absorption, blood transport, tissue distribution and excretion of DU in the human body is the subject of the second part of this article. The following sections deal with pathological condition putatively associated with overexposure to DU. Developmental and birth defects, the Persian Gulf syndrome, and kidney diseases that have been associated to DU are the arguments treated in the third section. Finally, data regarding DU exposure and cancer insurgence will be critically analyzed, including leukemia/lymphoma, lung cancer, uterine cervix cancer, breast cancer, bladder cancer and testicular cancer. The aim of the authors is to give a contribution to the debate on DU and its effects on human health and disease.
贫铀通常被视为一种新出现的污染物，它在20世纪90年代初伊拉克“沙漠风暴”军事行动期间首次大量进入环境。有假设认为，贫铀对接触它的士兵以及战区污染地区的居民都是一种有害元素。在这篇综述中，对环境中释放的贫铀对人类健康可能产生的后果进行了批判性分析。第一部分总结了贫铀的化学性质以及主要的民用和军事用途。本文第二部分的主题是对贫铀在人体中的吸收、血液运输、组织分布和排泄的潜在机制进行简要分析。以下各节讨论了可能与过度接触贫铀相关的病理状况。第三部分论述了与贫铀有关的发育和出生缺陷、海湾战争综合征以及肾脏疾病。最后，将对有关贫铀暴露与癌症发生的数据进行批判性分析，包括白血病/淋巴瘤、肺癌、子宫颈癌、乳腺癌、膀胱癌和睾丸癌。作者的目的是为关于贫铀及其对人类健康和疾病影响的辩论做出贡献。
