Lack of correlation between blood lead and serum prolactin levels among lead exposed workers.
A cross sectional case (241 males occupationally exposed to lead)-control (102 males unexposed to lead) study was performed with the aim of evaluating the relationship between serum prolactin (S-PRL) and lead blood (PbB) levels. A meta-analysis of S-PRL levels in similar studies was also carried out. No difference of S-PRL between groups or any relationship between PbB and S-PRL levels was found. The meta-analysis showed a slight increase of S-PRL levels among exposed people, the weighted means falling within the reference values of the biomarker. The results do not support a routine use of S-PRL as a biomarker of effect in lead exposed workers.
Department of Experimental and Applied Medicine, Section of Industrial Hygiene, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy. catalani@med.unibs.it
Simona
S
Catalani
Giuseppe
G
De Palma
Cesare
C
Tomasi
Rossella
R
Alinovi
Antonio
A
Mutti
Pietro
P
Apostoli
D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood*; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D011388:Prolactin / Q000097:blood*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D015415:Biomarkers; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D007854:Lead; D011388:Prolactin