title: Biomarkers of mercury toxicity: Past, present, and future trends.
abstract: Mercury (Hg) toxicity continues to represent a global health concern. Given that human populations are mostly exposed to low chronic levels of mercurial compounds (methylmercury through fish, mercury vapor from dental amalgams, and ethylmercury from vaccines), the need for more sensitive and refined tools to assess the effects and/or susceptibility to adverse metal-mediated health risks remains. Traditional biomarkers, such as hair or blood Hg levels, are practical and provide a reliable measure of exposure, but given intra-population variability, it is difficult to establish accurate cause-effect relationships. It is therefore important to identify and validate biomarkers that are predictive of early adverse effects prior to adverse health outcomes becoming irreversible. This review describes the predominant biomarkers used by toxicologists and epidemiologists to evaluate exposure, effect and susceptibility to Hg compounds, weighing on their advantages and disadvantages. Most importantly, and in light of recent findings on the molecular mechanisms underlying Hg-mediated toxicity, potential novel biomarkers that might be predictive of toxic effect are presented, and the applicability of these parameters in risk assessment is examined.
authors.affiliation: a Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculdade de Farmácia , Universidade de Lisboa , Lisboa , Portugal.
authors.forename: Vasco
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Branco
authors.affiliation: b Department of Molecular Pharmacology , Albert Einstein College of Medicine , Bronx , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caito
authors.affiliation: c Departamento de Bioquímica, Centro de Ciências Biológicas , Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina , Florianópolis , Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farina
authors.affiliation: d Departamento Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular , Universidade Federal de Santa Maria , Santa Maria , RS , Brazil.
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Teixeira da Rocha
authors.affiliation: b Department of Molecular Pharmacology , Albert Einstein College of Medicine , Bronx , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aschner
authors.affiliation: a Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculdade de Farmácia , Universidade de Lisboa , Lisboa , Portugal.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carvalho
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D006801:Humans; D008628:Mercury / Q000633:toxicity*; D017669:Mercury Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D018570:Risk Assessment
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D017669:Mercury Compounds; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D008628:Mercury