title: Comparative metal distribution in scalp hair of Pakistani and Irish referents and hypertensive patients.
abstract: The abnormal metabolism of metal ions plays an important role in health and disease conditions, and studies about them have been attracting significant interest. The aim of our study was to assess the heavy metals (cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn)) in scalp hair samples of 50 Irish and 78 Pakistani hypertensive patients of an urban population together with 50 Irish and 96 Pakistani non-hypertensive male subjects in the age group of 30-50 years. The concentrations of trace and toxic elements were measured by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrophotometer and atomic absorption spectrophotometer before microwave-assisted acid digestion. The validity and accuracy of the methodology were checked using certified reference materials, and by the conventional wet acid digestion method on the same certified reference materials and on real samples. The recovery of all the studied elements was found to be in the range of 97.5-99.7% in certified reference material. The results of this study showed that the mean values of cadmium, nickel, and lead were significantly higher in scalp hair samples of both Pakistani and Irish hypertensive patients than in referents (p < 0.001); whereas, the concentration of zinc was lower in the scalp hair samples of hypertensive patients of both genders. The deficiency of zinc and the high exposure of trace and toxic metals may be the risk factors associated with hypertension.
authors.affiliation: Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland. hassanimranafridi@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Hassan Imran
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Afridi
authors.forename: Dermot
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brabazon
authors.forename: Tasneem Gul
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Kazi
authors.forename: Sumsun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naher
authors.forename: Ekaterina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nesterenko
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000378:metabolism*; D007494:Ireland; D008297:Male; D008670:Metals / Q000378:metabolism*; D010154:Pakistan; D012015:Reference Standards; D012535:Scalp / Q000378:metabolism*; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic
chemical_list: D008670:Metals