Alegre-Martínez Antoni, Martínez-Martínez María Isabel, Rubio-Briones José, Cauli Omar
Frailty and Cognitive Impairment Organized Group (FROG), University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain.
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cardenal Herrera University CEU, Avenida Seminario, s/n, Moncada, 46113 Valencia, Spain.
Diseases. 2022 Jun 30;10(3):39. doi: 10.3390/diseases10030039.
Nickel is associated with cancer in occupational exposure. However, few studies have been devoted to analyzing the effects of nickel at environmental concentrations in cancer patients. In this work, the concentration of nickel in blood samples from patients with prostate cancer (PCa) was evaluated because this metal displays androgenic and estrogenic effects that play a crucial role in prostate carcinogenesis and treatment. We, therefore, compared blood nickel concentration in patients with PCa (non-occupationally exposed) ( = 46) with those in control age-matched individuals ( = 46). We also analyzed if there was any association between sociodemographic factors, clinical variables, geriatric evaluation assessment results, blood cell counts, or biochemical, androgen and estrogen concentrations. Using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy on the plasma samples, we observed a mean nickel level of 4.97 ± 1.20 µg/L in the PCa group and 3.59 ± 0.49 µg/L in the control group, with a non-significant effect ( = 0.293) between the two groups. The nickel concentration was significantly correlated with patient age ( = 0.005) and reduced handgrip strength ( = 0.003). Regarding biochemical parameters, significant associations were found with the renal glomerular filtration rate ( = 0.024) and blood urea levels ( = 0.016). No significant correlations were observed with other blood analytical parameters or testosterone or estradiol levels. These specific renal function and muscle strength effects were observed at environmental nickel exposure levels believed to be safe or at least far from the high concentrations observed after occupational exposure. Therefore, these parameters deserve further study, given that they could help pinpoint further public health concerns regarding nickel exposure in the general population.
镍在职业暴露中与癌症有关。然而，很少有研究致力于分析环境浓度下的镍对癌症患者的影响。在这项研究中，对前列腺癌（PCa）患者血样中的镍浓度进行了评估，因为这种金属具有雄激素和雌激素作用，在前列腺癌的发生和治疗中起着关键作用。因此，我们比较了PCa患者（非职业暴露）（n = 46）与年龄匹配的对照个体（n = 46）的血镍浓度。我们还分析了社会人口统计学因素、临床变量、老年评估结果、血细胞计数或生化、雄激素和雌激素浓度之间是否存在任何关联。通过对血浆样本使用电感耦合等离子体质谱法，我们观察到PCa组的平均镍水平为4.97±1.20μg/L，对照组为3.59±0.49μg/L，两组之间无显著差异（p = 0.293）。镍浓度与患者年龄（p = 0.005）和握力降低（p = 0.003）显著相关。关于生化参数，发现与肾小球滤过率（p = 0.024）和血尿素水平（p = 0.016）有显著关联。与其他血液分析参数、睾酮或雌二醇水平未观察到显著相关性。在被认为是安全的环境镍暴露水平下，或者至少远离职业暴露后观察到的高浓度下，观察到了这些特定的肾功能和肌肉力量影响。因此，鉴于这些参数有助于确定公众对一般人群镍暴露的进一步健康担忧，它们值得进一步研究。
