Medical Toxicology and Drug Abuse Research Center (MTDRC), Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.
Endocrine Research Center, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 9717113163, Iran.
Sci Rep. 2024 Mar 7;14(1):5662. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-56241-9.
The monitoring of essential and toxic elements in patients with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) undergoing methadone treatment (MT) is important, and there is limited previous research on the urinary levels of these elements in MT patients. Therefore, the present study aimed to analyze certain elements in the context of methadone treatment compared to a healthy group. In this study, patients with opioid use disorder undergoing MT (n = 67) were compared with a healthy group of companions (n = 62) in terms of urinary concentrations of some essential elements (selenium (Se), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), calcium (Ca)) and toxic elements (lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), and chromium (Cr)). Urine samples were prepared using the acid digestion method with a mixture of nitric acid and perchloric acid and assessed using the ICP-MS method. Our results showed that the two groups had no significant differences in terms of gender, education level, occupation, and smoking status. Urinary concentrations of Se, Cu, and Fe levels were significantly lower in the MT group compared to the healthy subjects. However, the concentrations of Pb, Cd, As, Mn, Cr, and Ca in the MT group were higher than in the healthy group (p < 0.05). No significant difference was established between the levels of Zn in the two groups (p = 0.232). The results of regression analysis revealed that the differences between the concentration levels of all metals (except Zn) between two groups were still remained significant after adjusting for all variables (p < 0.05). The data obtained in the current study showed lower urinary concentrations of some essential elements and higher levels of some toxic elements in the MT group compared to the healthy subjects. These findings should be incorporated into harm-reduction interventions.
监测接受美沙酮治疗（MT）的阿片类药物使用障碍（OUD）患者的必需和有毒元素非常重要，而之前关于 MT 患者这些元素尿液水平的研究有限。因此，本研究旨在分析 MT 患者与健康组相比某些元素的情况。在这项研究中，将接受美沙酮治疗的阿片类药物使用障碍患者（n=67）与健康对照组（n=62）进行比较，比较两组尿液中一些必需元素（硒（Se）、锌（Zn）、铜（Cu）、铁（Fe）、锰（Mn）、钙（Ca））和有毒元素（铅（Pb）、镉（Cd）、砷（As）和铬（Cr））的浓度。使用硝酸和高氯酸混合物的酸消解法制备尿液样本，并使用 ICP-MS 法进行评估。我们的结果表明，两组在性别、教育程度、职业和吸烟状况方面没有显著差异。与健康受试者相比，MT 组的尿液 Se、Cu 和 Fe 水平显著降低。然而，MT 组的 Pb、Cd、As、Mn、Cr 和 Ca 浓度高于健康组（p<0.05）。两组 Zn 浓度之间未建立显著差异（p=0.232）。回归分析结果表明，在调整所有变量后，两组之间所有金属（除 Zn 外）浓度水平的差异仍然显著（p<0.05）。本研究获得的数据显示，与健康受试者相比，MT 组尿液中一些必需元素的浓度较低，一些有毒元素的浓度较高。这些发现应纳入减少伤害的干预措施中。
