title: Polymorphism of delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase and its effect on blood lead levels in Thai workers.
abstract: To determine the prevalence of delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) polymorphism and its effects on blood lead levels (BLLs) in Thai workers, the authors performed a cross-sectional analysis of 389 Thai workers who were exposed to lead in a battery plant. The authors collected blood for BLLs and genotypic study, and they found that the allele frequencies of ALAD1 and ALAD2 were 0.98 and 0.02, respectively. They made a comparison of BLLs between genotype by dividing the levels into 2 categories of lead exposure (high and medium magnitude of exposure) and using length of employment as a covariance. Their results showed no significant difference of BLLs between the ALAD1-1 and ALAD1-2/ALAD2-2 groups in both levels of exposure. The frequency of ALAD2 in Thai workers was low; the authors found that ALAD polymorphism had a small or only modest effect on BLLs.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine at Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. rawwn@mahidol.ac.th
authors.forename: Winai
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wananukul
authors.forename: Thanyachai
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sura
authors.forename: Porntip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Salaitanawatwong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence / Q000235:genetics; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D000623:Porphobilinogen Synthase / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D013785:Thailand
chemical_list: D007854:Lead; D000623:Porphobilinogen Synthase