title: Heavy metal bioabsorption capacity of intestinal helminths in urban rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of the present study was to evaluate the capability of helminths to absorb heavy metals in comparison with that of the host tissues.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared the concentration of cadmium (Cd) and chromium (Cr) in urban rats and in their harboring helminthes -Moniliformis moniliformis, Hymenolepis diminuta and larval stage of Taenia taenaeiformis (Cysticercus fasciolaris). The heavy metal absorption was evaluated in 1g wet weight of parasites and tissues digested in nitric acid, using Inductivity Coupled Plasma (ICP_OES).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A higher concentration of heavy metals was revealed in the helminths than in the host tissues. Bioconcentration factor (BF= C in parasite/C in tissue) for both Cd and Cr absorption was more than 10-fold higher in M. moniliformis than in the three compared host tissues. The BF of Cd in M. moniliformis compared to the liver, kidney and muscle of the host was 9.16, 14.14 and 17.09, respectively. BF in Cr in the same parasite and the same host tissues ranged from 10.67, 7.06 and 4.6. High level of absorption in H. diminuta was significantly likewise; the individual BF of Cd and Cr in H. diminuta compared to the liver, kidney and muscle of the hosts was 4.95, 5.94 and 4.67 vs. 2.67, 11.56 and 5.59. The mean concentration of Cd and Cr in C. fasciolaris was also significantly higher than that in the rat livers (P<0.007 and P<0.004, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study claims that parasites of terrestrial animals exposed to heavy metals can be more accurate indicators than the host tissues as new environmental monitoring agents.
authors.affiliation: 1. WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Control of Opisthorchiasis (Southeast Asian Liver Fluke Disease), Tropical Disease Research Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University , Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand ; 2. Dept. of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Salma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Teimoori
authors.affiliation: 3. Dept. of Nutrition and Biochemistry, School of Public Health , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Aliakbar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sabour Yaraghi
authors.affiliation: 2. Dept. of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahsa Sadat
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Makki
authors.affiliation: 2. Dept. of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Farideh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shahbazi
authors.affiliation: 4. Dept. of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health and Institute of Public Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Shahrokh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nazmara
authors.affiliation: 2. Dept. of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohhamad Bagher
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Rokni
authors.affiliation: 4. Dept. of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health and Institute of Public Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mesdaghinia
authors.affiliation: 5. Dept. of Pathobiology, Bandar Abbas Faculty of Medicine, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences (HUMS) , Iran.
authors.forename: Abdoreza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salahi Moghaddam
authors.affiliation: 6. Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical sciences , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mostafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hosseini
authors.affiliation: 2. Dept. of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Arash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rakhshanpour
authors.affiliation: 2. Dept. of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mowlavi
keywords: Bioindicators; Heavy metals; Helminths; Moniliformis moniliformis