Determination of Cd, Cr, Pb and Ni contents among Parkinson's disease individuals: a case-control study.
BACKGROUND
Various uses of metals in industries, including the domestic sphere, agriculture, medicine and technology, have led to their wide distribution in the environment. These result in raising concerns over their potential effects on human health and the environment. Because of their high degree of toxicity, Cd, Cr and Pb are some of the priority metals that are of public health significance. The levels of Cd, Cr, Pb and Ni were measured in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients.


METHODS
Blood samples were collected from 40 patients and 40 healthy controls, and stored at -80 °C until assayed. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry was used to determine the levels of metals.


RESULTS
The level of Pb was significantly decreased in patients than in controls. However, the difference in the level of Ni between patients and controls failed to reach significance. Cr was not detectable in patients, but it was measurable in 12 controls (controls = 0.056-2.397 µg/ml). Similarly, Cd was not detectable in patients, but it was measurable in all the controls (controls = 0.004-1.268 µg/ml). Pb was the only metal that was found in all study participants (PD = 0.012-2.758 µg/ml and controls = 0.779-9.840 µg/ml). Ni could be measured only in six patients and in all the controls (PD = 0.154-0.754 µg/ml and controls = 0.034-1.691 µg/ml).


CONCLUSIONS
Patients exhibited significantly decreased levels of Pb than in controls. However, Cd, Cr and Ni were too low to be measured among the patients. This indicates that these metals might play a probable role in PD.
a Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics , King George's Medical University , Lucknow , India.
Vineeta
V
Gupta
b Analytical Chemistry Laboratory , CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research , Lucknow , India.
Nasreen Ghazi
NG
Ansari
c Department of Neurology , King George's Medical University , Lucknow , India.
Ravindra Kumar
RK
Garg
a Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics , King George's Medical University , Lucknow , India.
Sanjay
S
Khattri
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002104:Cadmium / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002857:Chromium / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009532:Nickel / Q000097:blood; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000097:blood*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D013223:Statistics as Topic
D019216:Metals, Heavy; D002104:Cadmium; D002857:Chromium; D007854:Lead; D009532:Nickel
Cd; Cr; Ni; Parkinson's disease; Pb; atomic absorption spectrophotometry