The study on relationship between arsenic methylation metabolism and skin lesions of population exposed to arsenic through drinking water / 中华地方病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the levels of urinary arsenic metabolites in arsenic-exposed people with different degrees of skin lesions.Methods:A cluster sampling method was used to select people with different degrees of skin lesions in the drinking water arsenic poisoning area of Bayannaoer City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. According to the "Standard of Diagnosis for Endemic Arsenism" (WS/T 211-2001), the research subjects were divided into four clinical grading normal, suspicious, mild, moderate and above on the basis of the degrees of skin lesions. Urine samples from any 1 middle section were collected, and the levels of urinary arsenic metabolites of different forms in different clinically graded people were detected by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).Results:A total of 522 people were included, including 309 males and 213 females; the age was (39.11 ± 12.38) years old, ranging from 11 to 65 years old. There were 337, 80, 31, 74 people in normal, suspicious, mild, moderate and above clinical grading, the levels of inorganic arsenic (iAs, medians 15.46, 37.16, 104.46, 163.06 μg/L), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA, medians 15.95, 33.27, 82.80, 123.84 μg/L), dimethylarsenic acid (DMA, medians 78.16, 147.86, 301.28, 371.30 μg/L), total arsenic (tAs, medians 113.90, 220.94, 501.25, 684.46 μg/L), iAs percentage (iAs%, medians 15.66%, 15.53%, 21.67%, 21.65%), MMA percentage (MMA%, medians 13.51%, 15.40%, 17.14%, 16.43%), DMA percentage (DMA%, medians 70.37%, 67.98%, 63.25%, 61.23%), monomethylation rate (PMI, medians 0.84, 0.84, 0.78, 0.78), dimethylation rate (SMI, medians 0.84, 0.81, 0.79, 0.79), and ratio of MMA to DMA (MMA/DMA, medians 0.20, 0.23, 0.27, 0.27) were compared in different clinically graded people, the differences were statistically significant ( H = 97.98, 96.44, 85.50, 95.08, 38.58, 29.94, 51.98, 38.58, 43.20, 43.20, P < 0.01). Compared with normal people, iAs, MMA, DMA, tAs, MMA%, and MMA/DMA levels significantly increased, and SMI level significantly decreased in suspicious, mild, moderate and above people ( P < 0.017); compared with normal people, iAs% level significantly increased, and DMA% and PMI levels significantly decreased in mild, moderate and above people ( P < 0.017). Conclusion:The levels of urinary arsenic metabolites in arsenic-exposed people with different degrees of skin lesions are different, showing a dose-response relationship.