RT Journal Article
T1 Lead (Pb) and neurodevelopment: A review on exposure and biomarkers of effect (BDNF, HDL) and susceptibility.
A1 Gundacker, Claudia
A1 Forsthuber, Martin
A1 Szigeti, Tamás
A1 Kakucs, Réka
A1 Mustieles, Vicente
A1 Fernandez, Mariana F
A1 Bengtsen, Elizabeth
A1 Vogel, Ulla
A1 Hougaard, Karin Sørig
A1 Saber, Anne Thoustrup
K1 Effect biomarkers
K1 Epigenetics
K1 HBM4EU
K1 Human biomonitoring
K1 Neurodevelopmental toxicity
K1 Susceptibility biomarkers
AB Lead (Pb) is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant and a potent toxic compound. Humans are exposed to Pb through inhalation, ingestion, and skin contact via food, water, tobacco smoke, air, dust, and soil. Pb accumulates in bones, brain, liver and kidney. Fetal exposure occurs via transplacental transmission. The most critical health effects are developmental neurotoxicity in infants and cardiovascular effects and nephrotoxicity in adults. Pb exposure has been steadily decreasing over the past decades, but there are few recent exposure data from the general European population; moreover, no safe Pb limit has been set. Sensitive biomarkers of exposure, effect and susceptibility, that reliably and timely indicate Pb-associated toxicity are required to assess human exposure-health relationships in a situation of low to moderate exposure. Therefore, a systematic literature review based on PubMed entries published before July 2019 that addressed Pb exposure and biomarkers of effect and susceptibility, neurodevelopmental toxicity, epigenetic modifications, and transcriptomics was conducted. Finally included were 58 original papers on Pb exposure and 17 studies on biomarkers. The biomarkers that are linked to Pb exposure and neurodevelopment were grouped into effect biomarkers (serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and serum/saliva cortisol), susceptibility markers (epigenetic markers and gene sequence variants) and other biomarkers (serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL), maternal iron (Fe) and calcium (Ca) status). Serum BDNF and plasma HDL are potential candidates to be further validated as effect markers for routine use in HBM studies of Pb, complemented by markers of Fe and Ca status to also address nutritional interactions related to neurodevelopmental disorders. For several markers, a causal relationship with Pb-induced neurodevelopmental toxicity is likely. Results on BDNF are discussed in relation to Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) 13 ("Chronic binding of antagonist to N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) during brain development induces impairment of learning and memory abilities") of the AOP-Wiki. Further studies are needed to validate sensitive, reliable, and timely effect biomarkers, especially for low to moderate Pb exposure scenarios.
YR 2021
FD 2021-10-13
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10668/27998
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10668/27998
LA en
DS RISalud
RD Apr 17, 2025