title: Health effects of depleted uranium on exposed Gulf War veterans: a 10-year follow-up.
abstract: Medical surveillance of a group of U.S. Gulf War veterans who were victims of depleted uranium (DU) "friendly fire" has been carried out since the early 1990s. Findings to date reveal a persistent elevation of urine uranium, more than 10 yr after exposure, in those veterans with retained shrapnel fragments. The excretion is presumably from ongoing mobilization of DU from fragments oxidizing in situ. Other clinical outcomes related to urine uranium measures have revealed few abnormalities. Renal function is normal despite the kidney's expected involvement as the "critical" target organ of uranium toxicity. Subtle perturbations in some proximal tubular parameters may suggest early although not clinically significant effects of uranium exposure. A mixed picture of genotoxic outcomes is also observed, including an association of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HPRT) mutation frequency with high urine uranium levels. Findings observed in this chronically exposed cohort offer guidance for predicting future health effects in other potentially exposed populations and provide helpful data for hazard communication for future deployed personnel.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA. mmcdiarm@medicine.umaryland.edu
authors.forename: Melissa A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: McDiarmid
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Engelhardt
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oliver
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gucer
authors.forename: P David
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kane
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kabat
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kaup
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hoover
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Handwerger
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Albertini
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jacobson-Kram
authors.forename: Craig D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Thorne
authors.forename: Katherine S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Squibb
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations / Q000187:drug effects; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000187:drug effects; D008877:Middle East; D008889:Military Personnel; D012854:Sister Chromatid Exchange / Q000187:drug effects; D013997:Time Factors; D014501:Uranium / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D014728:Veterans; D014857:Warfare
chemical_list: D014501:Uranium