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Blood lead (Pb) levels and weight loss
Author(s) -
Riedt Claudia S,
Buckley Brian,
Shapses Sue A
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.5.a1063-a
Subject(s) - weight loss , chemistry , body weight , medicine , zoology , endocrinology , blood loss , toxicity , lead (geology) , surgery , biology , obesity , paleontology
High bone turnover conditions result in Pb mobilization from bone into circulation. In Pb‐exposed rodents, weight loss has been shown to increase blood Pb levels. It remains unknown whether weight loss in humans increases blood Pb levels due to mobilization of inert Pb stores. We measured whole blood Pb levels ( 206 Pb, 207 Pb, 208 Pb) by inductively‐coupled plasma mass spectrometry in 74 women (age 24–75 years; BMI 23–74) before and 6 months after moderate (n=39) or severe (n=17) weight loss (WL), or weight maintenance (WM, n=18). Before wt loss, baseline blood Pb ranged from 0.02–6.0 μg/dL, (optimum levels < 10 ug/dL), and showed a positive association with age (r = 0.50 for 206–208 Pb, p < 0.0001). Since all three Pb isotopes responded to treatment in a similar manner, 206 Pb is reported for the rest of the results. After severe WL (−35.9 ± 15.2 kg), blood Pb levels increased ( p < 0.05, Figure ) to 3.8 ± 3.1 ug/dL (1.3–12.5 μg/dL). Moderate WL (−5.6 ± 2.7 kg) and WM (0.4 ± 1.3 kg) did not result in an increase in Pb levels ( Figure). Blood Pb levels increased more with greater weight loss (r = 0.23, p < 0.05), but there was no significantcorrelation between blood Pb and a rise in bone turnover markers. Overall, we show that severe, but not moderate weight loss increases levels of blood Pb, and suggest that this could cause Pb toxicity in people with previous excessive lead exposure, especially in an older population (NIH‐NIEHS).