Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 466-8550, Japan.
Voluntary Body for International Health Care in Universities, Nagoya, Japan.
Environ Health Prev Med. 2019 May 17;24(1):36. doi: 10.1186/s12199-019-0791-y.
Melanin is detectable in various sense organs including the skin in animals. It has been reported that melanin adsorbs toxic elements such as mercury, cadmium, and lead. In this study, we investigated the adsorption of molybdenum, which is widely recognized as a toxic element, by melanin.
Molybdenum level of the mouse skin was measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The pigmentation level of murine skin was digitalized as the L* value by using a reflectance spectrophotometer. An in vitro adsorption assay was performed to confirm the interaction between molybdenum and melanin.
Our analysis of hairless mice with different levels of skin pigmentation showed that the level of molybdenum increased with an increase in the level of skin pigmentation (L* value). Moreover, our analysis by Spearman's correlation coefficient test showed a strong correlation (r = - 0.9441, p < 0.0001) between L* value and molybdenum level. Our cell-free experiment using the Langmuir isotherm provided evidence for the adsorption of molybdenum by melanin. The maximum adsorption capacity of 1 mg of synthetic melanin for molybdenum was 131 μg in theory.
Our in vivo and in vitro results showed a new aspect of melanin as an adsorbent of molybdenum.
黑色素存在于包括皮肤在内的各种动物感觉器官中。据报道，黑色素能吸附汞、镉、铅等有毒元素。在这项研究中，我们研究了黑色素对广泛认为是有毒元素的钼的吸附作用。
采用电感耦合等离子体质谱法测定小鼠皮肤中的钼含量。用反射分光光度计将鼠皮的色素沉着程度数字化为 L*值。进行体外吸附实验以确认钼与黑色素之间的相互作用。
我们对不同色素沉着水平的无毛小鼠进行分析，结果表明钼的水平随着皮肤色素沉着水平（L值）的增加而增加。此外，我们通过斯皮尔曼相关系数检验分析表明，L值与钼水平之间存在很强的相关性（r=-0.9441，p<0.0001）。我们使用 Langmuir 等温线进行的无细胞实验为黑色素吸附钼提供了证据。理论上，1 毫克合成黑色素对钼的最大吸附容量为 131μg。
我们的体内和体外结果表明黑色素作为钼的吸附剂具有新的特性。
