Department of Toxicology "Akademik Danilo Soldatović", University of Belgrade - Faculty of Pharmacy, Belgrade, Serbia.
School of Public Health and Health Management and Institute of Social Medicine, University of Belgrade - Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 Sep 20;14:1145153. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1145153. eCollection 2023.
Nickel (Ni) is one of the well-known toxic metals found in the environment. However, its influence on thyroid function is not explored enough. Hence, the aim of this study was to analyse the potential of Ni to disrupt thyroid function by exploring the relationship between blood Ni concentration and serum hormone levels (TSH, T4, T3, fT4 and fT3), as well as the parameters of thyroid homeostasis (SPINA-GT and SPINA-GD) by using correlation analysis and Benchmark (BMD) concept.
Ni concentration was measured by ICP-MS method, while CLIA was used for serum hormone determination. SPINA Thyr software was used to calculate SPINA-GT and SPINA-GD parameters. BMD analysis was performed by PROAST software (70.1). The limitations of this study are the small sample size and the uneven distribution of healthy and unhealthy subjects, limited confounding factors, as well as the age of the subjects that could have influenced the obtained results.
The highest median value for blood Ni concentration was observed for the male population and amounted 8,278 µg/L. Accordingly, the statistically significant correlation was observed only in the male population, for Ni-fT4 and Ni-SPINA-GT pairs. The existence of a dose-response relationship was established between Ni and all the measured parameters of thyroid functions in entire population and in both sexes. However, the narrowest BMD intervals were obtained only in men, for Ni - SPINA-GT pair (1.36-60.9 µg/L) and Ni - fT3 pair (0.397-66.8 µg/L), indicating that even 78.68 and 83.25% of men in our study might be in 10% higher risk of Ni-induced SPINA-GT and fT3 alterations, respectively. Due to the relationship established between Ni and the SPINA-GT parameter, it can be concluded that Ni has an influence on the secretory function of the thyroid gland in men. Although the further research is required, these findings suggest possible role of Ni in thyroid function disturbances.
镍（Ni）是环境中已知的有毒金属之一。然而，其对甲状腺功能的影响尚未得到充分探索。因此，本研究旨在通过分析血镍浓度与血清激素水平（TSH、T4、T3、fT4 和 fT3）之间的关系，以及使用相关分析和基准（BMD）概念探索甲状腺内稳态参数（SPINA-GT 和 SPINA-GD），来研究 Ni 破坏甲状腺功能的潜力。
通过 ICP-MS 法测量 Ni 浓度，CLIA 法用于血清激素测定。使用 SPINA Thyr 软件计算 SPINA-GT 和 SPINA-GD 参数。PROAST 软件（70.1）进行 BMD 分析。本研究的局限性在于样本量小且健康和不健康受试者分布不均、受限的混杂因素以及受试者年龄可能影响获得的结果。
男性人群的血液 Ni 浓度中位数最高，为 8278µg/L。相应地，仅在男性人群中观察到 Ni-fT4 和 Ni-SPINA-GT 对之间存在统计学显著相关性。在整个人群和两性中，均建立了 Ni 与所有测量的甲状腺功能参数之间存在剂量反应关系。然而，仅在男性中获得了最窄的 BMD 区间，Ni-SPINA-GT 对（1.36-60.9µg/L）和 Ni-fT3 对（0.397-66.8µg/L），这表明即使在我们的研究中，78.68%和 83.25%的男性可能面临更高的 Ni 诱导 SPINA-GT 和 fT3 改变的风险，分别为 10%和 10%。由于建立了 Ni 与 SPINA-GT 参数之间的关系，可以得出 Ni 对男性甲状腺的分泌功能有影响的结论。尽管需要进一步研究，但这些发现提示 Ni 可能在甲状腺功能紊乱中起作用。
