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National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

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Publication Detail

Title: Urinary delta-ALA: a potential biomarker of exposure and neurotoxic effect in rats co-treated with a mixture of lead, arsenic and manganese.

Authors: Andrade, Vanda; Mateus, M Luísa; Batoréu, M Camila; Aschner, Michael; dos Santos, A P Marreilha

Published In Neurotoxicology, (2013 Sep)

Abstract: Lead (Pb), arsenic (As) and manganese (Mn) are neurotoxic elements that often occur in mixtures for which practically no information is available on biomarkers (BMs) for the evaluation of exposure/effects. Exposures to these metals may increase delta-aminolevulinic acid (delta-ALA), which in itself may potentiate neurotoxicity. The objective of this study was to investigate the utility of urinary delta-ALA (delta-ALA-U) levels as BM of exposure and/or neurotoxic effects induced by this mixture. Five groups of Wistar rats were treated for 8 days with Pb (5mg/kg), As (60mg/L), Mn (10mg/kg), the 3-metal mixture (same doses of the single metals), and control group. Motor activity was evaluated and 24-h urine collected before and after the treatment. 24-hours (h) after the last dose, the rats were sacrificed and the brains removed for analyses. Delta-ALA and metal levels were determined in brain and urine. Co-treated rats showed a significant (p<0.05) correlation between increased Pb, As, Mn and delta-ALA levels in the brain and decreased motor activity. Delta-ALA-U concentrations were higher in the mixture-treated group than the sum of the delta-ALA-U levels in each single-treated groups and discriminated (p<0.05) between the mixture and untreated rats. Moreover, delta-ALA-U was correlated (p<0.05) with brain delta-ALA levels. These results establish that treatments with this metal mixture exacerbate behavioral dysfunction, increasing most prominently brain Pb levels. This study is the first to establish that delta-ALA-U levels represent a sensitive BM of exposure/neurotoxic effect to this metal mixture.

PubMed ID: 23764341 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Aminolevulinic Acid/metabolism; Aminolevulinic Acid/urine*; Animals; Arsenic/toxicity*; Arsenic/urine; Biomarkers/urine; Brain/metabolism; Lead/toxicity*; Lead/urine; Male; Manganese/toxicity*; Manganese/urine; Motor Activity/drug effects; Rats

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Last Reviewed: October 07, 2024