ABSTRACT
Objective To study the influence of arsenic exposure on menstruation.Methods A cluster sampling method was applied to select the subjects of women aged 10 to 65 from Linhe,Hangjinhouqi and Wuyuan counties in Inner Mongolia in 2004.Drinking water samples were collected to detect arsenic levels,and menstrual related situation was surveyed.The subjects were divided into four groups according to drinking water arsenic concentration:control(≤0.01 mg/L),low(＞ 0.01-0.10 mg/L),moderate(＞ 0.10-0.20 mg/L) and high(＞ 0.20mag/L).Results A total of 602 women were surveyed.There were 83 subjects exposed to arsenic before menarche and their menarche age was (14.37 ± 1.54) years old.There were 90 people exposed to arsenic before menopause and the menopause age was (48.13-0.41) years old.The age of menarche and menopause were positively related to the years of arsenic exposure,and correlation coefficients were 0.268 and 0.278 (all P ＜ 0.05).Compared to control group(14.0％,16/112),menstrual abnormality rate decreased in low(12.1％,21/173) and high dose groups(10.2％,19/186),while increased in the moderate dose group(18.2％,16/88),but the differences were not statistically significant(x2 =3.664,P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions Long-term arsenic exposure delays the menarche and menopause age,suggesting that arsenic has certain endocrine disruption or estrogen-like effects.
ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the effects of chronic arsenic exposure on estrogen receptor-binding fragment-associated gene 9 (Ebag9) and estrogen-responsive finger protein (efp) mRNA expression in female rat' s myocardium.Methods Fifty female Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups according to arsenic (As2O3) concentrations in drinking-water:0.00(control),0.05,0.10,0.20,0.40 mg/L groups and RT-PCR was used to detect Ebag9 and efp mRNA expression of myocardium at the 32 weeks of experiment.Results Ebag9 and efp mRNA expression levels in 0.00,0.05,0.10,0.20,0.40 mg/L groups were respectively as follows:0.54 ±0.14,0.52 ± 0.10,0.48 ± 0.24,0.58 ± 0.13,0.45 ± 0.19 and 0.85 ± 0.14,0.86 ± 0.12,0.87 ± 0.09,0.99 ±0.10,0.86 ± 0.19.Compared to the control group,Ebag9 mRNA level of the 0.20 mg/L group was increased,and decreased in other groups,but the difference between two groups was not significant(all P ＞ 0.05).Compared to control group,the efp mRNA level of 0.20 mg/L group increased significantly(P ＜ 0.05),and showed increased tendency in other arsenic groups,but the difference between two groups was not significant (all P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions Ebag9 and efp mRNA expression have changed in myocardium of rats exposed to chronic arsenic.Arsenic may has endocrine disruptor effect to female rat's myocardium.
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Objective To study the risk factors of skin lesion (keratosis and abnormal skin pigmentation) of population exposed to arsenic via drinking water in Inner Mongolia.Methods A cluster sampling method was used to select 902 cases from Linhe district,Hanghou and Wuyuan county in Inner Mongolia and physical examination was done.They were interviewed for information by questionnaire.The sample of fingernails and drinking water were collected.Water arsenic (As) was analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS); fingernail As and Se content were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis(INAA).Data were analyzed by univariate and multivariate non-conditional Logistic regression.Results Single factor analysis showed that risk factors of keratosis were age,pesticide,arsenic in nails,smoking,years of smoking,drinking of alcohol,arsenic content in drinking water,fluorosis and duration of drinking arsenic-containing water,while occupation,nail selenium content and vitamin were protective factors.There were 10 risk factors for pigment abnormalities,which were age,pesticide,arsenic in nails,smoking,years of smoking,numbers of cigarette smoked daily,drinking of alcohol,fluorosis,the arsenic content in drinking water and duration of drinking arseniccontaining water,while sex,occupation and nails with selenium were protective factors.The multivariate factor analysis showed that the risk factors of keratosis were age,pesticide and arsenic content in drinking water(OR =1.387,1.583,1.321,all P ＜ 0.05),while occupation and vitamin were protective factors(OR =0.307,0.260,all P ＜ 0.05).The risk factors of abnormal skin pigmentation were age,pesticide,arsenic in nails,fluorosis and arsenic content in drinking water(OR =1.724,2.636,2.741,3.699,1.863,all P ＜ 0.05),while sex was protective factor(OR =0.255,P ＜ 0.01 ).Conclusions Many factors have influence on endemic arsenism and a composite measure should be implemented to prevent it such as excluding arsenic from drinking water,health education,and a reasonably intake of nutrients.