Ghaemi Kazem, Ghoreishi Atefeh, Rabiee Navid, Alinejad Samira, Farzaneh Esmaeil, Amirabadi Zadeh Alireza, Abdollahi Mohammad, Mehrpour Omid
Atherosclerosis and Coronary Artery Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.
Department of Neurosurgery, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.
Emerg (Tehran). 2017;5(1):e69. Epub 2017 Jun 15.
One of the newest non-occupational sources of lead contamination is drug addiction, which has recently been addressed as a major source of lead poisoning in some countries. The present study aimed to investigate the blood lead level (BLL) of asymptomatic opium addicts.
This case-control study was conducted during a one-year period to compare BLL of three groups consisting of opium addicts, patients under methadone maintenance therapy (MMT), and healthy individuals.
99 participants with the mean age of 55.43±12.83 years were studied in three groups of 33 cases (53.5% male). The mean lead level in opium addicts, MMT and control groups were 80.30 ± 6.03 μg/L, 67.94 ± 4.42 μg/L, and 57.30±4.77 μg/L, respectively (p=0.008). There was no significant difference in BLL between MMT and healthy individuals (p=0.433) and also between opium addicts and MMT individuals (p=0.271).Oral opium abusers had significantly higher lead levels (p = 0.036). There was a significant correlation between BLL and duration of drug abuse in opium addict cases (r=0.398, p=0.022). The odds ratio of having BLL ≥ 100 in oral opium users was 2.1 (95% CI: 0.92 - 4.61; p = 0.43).
Based on the result of present study, when compared to healthy individuals, opium addicts, especially those who took substance orally had significantly higher levels of blood lead, and their odds of having BLL ≥ 100 was two times. Therefore, screening for BLL in opium addicts, particularly those with non-specific complaints, could be useful.
药物成瘾是最新出现的非职业性铅污染来源之一，在一些国家，它最近已被视为铅中毒的主要来源。本研究旨在调查无症状鸦片成瘾者的血铅水平（BLL）。
本病例对照研究在一年期间进行，以比较由鸦片成瘾者、接受美沙酮维持治疗（MMT）的患者和健康个体组成的三组的BLL。
对99名平均年龄为55.43±12.83岁的参与者进行了研究，分为三组，每组33例（53.5%为男性）。鸦片成瘾者组、MMT组和对照组的平均铅水平分别为80.30±6.03μg/L、67.94±4.42μg/L和57.30±4.77μg/L（p=0.008）。MMT组与健康个体之间的BLL无显著差异（p=0.433），鸦片成瘾者与MMT个体之间也无显著差异（p=0.271）。口服鸦片滥用者的铅水平显著更高（p = 0.036）。在鸦片成瘾病例中，BLL与药物滥用持续时间之间存在显著相关性（r=0.398，p=0.022）。口服鸦片使用者BLL≥100的比值比为2.1（95%CI：0.92 - 4.61；p = 0.43）。
根据本研究结果，与健康个体相比，鸦片成瘾者，尤其是口服药物者的血铅水平显著更高，且其BLL≥100的几率是健康个体的两倍。因此，对鸦片成瘾者，特别是有非特异性症状者进行BLL筛查可能会有帮助。
