Cardiac Electromechanical and Vascular Reactivity Laboratory, Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo, Av. Marechal Campos, 1468, Vitoria, Espirito Santo, Brazil.
Cardiovascular Physiology Laboratory, Universidade Federal do Pampa, BR 472, Km 592, Uruguaiana, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Curr Hypertens Rev. 2020;16(3):201-209. doi: 10.2174/1573402115666190115153759.
The use of heavy metals is closely linked to the history of mankind. They have been used as important materials in a wide variety of human activities such as manufacturing utensils and tools. Such extended use has significantly increased professional and environmental exposure to mercury, lead and cadmium. These metals are known to produce hypertension in humans and animals and, among other effects, they can also affect endothelial function. Results described here suggest that mercury, lead and cadmium affect vascular reactivity, even at low doses or concentrations. Several vascular actions are mediated by the endothelium via increasing the production of free radicals and angiotensin II by local ACE stimulation. These results provide further evidence that these toxic metals, even at low doses, are an environmental risk factor to the exposed population. These results also suggest that continuous exposure to these metals, followed by their absorption and progressive accumulation in the body, may be hazardous to cardiovascular function. Therefore, the current reference values, which are considered safe, need to be reduced.
重金属的使用与人类历史息息相关。它们被广泛应用于人类的各种活动中，如制造器具和工具。这种广泛的应用显著增加了人类和环境接触汞、铅和镉的机会。这些金属已知会导致人类和动物高血压，除其他影响外，还会影响内皮功能。这里描述的结果表明，汞、铅和镉会影响血管反应性，即使在低剂量或浓度下也是如此。几种血管作用是通过局部 ACE 刺激增加自由基和血管紧张素 II 的产生由内皮介导的。这些结果进一步证明，这些有毒金属即使在低剂量下，也是暴露人群的环境危险因素。这些结果还表明，持续接触这些金属，随后吸收并在体内逐渐积累，可能对心血管功能有害。因此，需要降低目前被认为安全的参考值。
