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Arsenic and porphyrins
Author(s) -
Apostoli P.,
Sarnico M.,
Bavazzano P.,
Bartoli D.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.10123
Subject(s) - porphyrin , arsenic , excretion , arsenobetaine , urine , high performance liquid chromatography , urinary system , medicine , hexa , biochemistry , endocrinology , chromatography , chemistry , inorganic arsenic , organic chemistry
Background To evaluate the possible effect of inorganic arsenic (iAs) and of its species on the urinary excretion of porphyrin homologues. Methods Total porphyrins and their homologues (copro, penta, hexa, hepta, uroporphyrins) and arsenic species (trivalent and pentavalent As; monomethyl arsonic acid; dimethyl arsinic acid; arsenobetaine) were measured respectively by HPLC and HPLC‐ICP MS in urine from 86 art glass workers exposed to iAs and from 54 controls. Results A significant increase in the excretion of penta and uroporphyrins was demonstrated for workers exposed to As; As3 was the species best correlated with urinary porphyrin excretion. Conclusions The increase of urinary excretion for some porphyrin homologues appears to be consistent with the inhibition by As of URO‐decarboxylase in the heme biosynthesis pathway. The determination of urinary porphyrin homologues could be useful to assess, on a group basis, some early effects of arsenic and to demonstrate possible individual susceptibility to the element. Am. J. Ind. Med. 42:180–187, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.