School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui, 230009, China; School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui, 230009, China.
School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui, 230009, China.
Chemosphere. 2020 Mar;243:125428. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.125428. Epub 2019 Nov 20.
Toxic elements exposure disturbs the homeostasis of essential elements in organisms, but the mechanism remains elusive. In this study, we demonstrated that Drosophila melanogaster exposed to Lead (Pb, a pervasive environmental threat to human health) exhibited various health defects, including retarded development, decreased survival rate, impaired mobility and reduced egg production. These phenotypes could be significantly modulated by either intervention of dietary iron levels or altering expression of genes involved in iron metabolism. Further study revealed that Pb exposure leads to systemic iron deficiency. Strikingly, reactive oxygen species (ROS) clearance significantly increased iron uptake by restoring the expression of iron metabolism genes in the midgut and subsequently attenuated Pb toxicity. This study highlights the role of ROS in Pb induced iron dyshomeostasis and provides unique insights into understanding the mechanism of Pb toxicity and suggests ideal ways to attenuate Pb toxicity by iron supplementation therapy or ROS clearance.
有毒元素暴露会扰乱生物体必需元素的体内平衡，但其中的机制仍难以捉摸。在这项研究中，我们证明了暴露在铅（Pb，一种对人类健康构成普遍环境威胁的元素）中的黑腹果蝇表现出多种健康缺陷，包括发育迟缓、存活率降低、行动能力受损和产卵量减少。这些表型可以通过饮食中铁水平的干预或改变参与铁代谢的基因的表达来显著调节。进一步的研究表明，Pb 暴露导致系统性铁缺乏。引人注目的是，活性氧（ROS）清除通过恢复中肠中铁代谢基因的表达显著增加了铁的摄取，从而减轻了 Pb 的毒性。这项研究强调了 ROS 在 Pb 诱导的铁代谢失衡中的作用，并为理解 Pb 毒性的机制提供了独特的见解，并提示通过铁补充治疗或 ROS 清除来减轻 Pb 毒性的理想方法。
