Andrey A. Skalny

Reference values of hair toxic trace elements content in occupationally non-exposed Russian population.

A total of 5908 occupationally non-exposed adults (4384 women and 1524 men) living in Moscow and Moscow region were involved in the current investigation. Hair Al, As, Be, Bi, Cd, Hg, Li, Ni, Pb, Sn, and Sr content was estimated by inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry using NexION 300D. Men are characterized by significantly higher hair Al, As, Cd, Hg, Li, and Pb content. At the same time, hair levels of Bi, Ni, Sn, and Sr were significantly higher in women. Consequently, the reference ranges were estimated for male, female, and general cohort as coverage intervals in accordance with IUPAC recommendations.

The Influence of Physical Activity on Hair Toxic and Essential Trace Element Content in Male and Female Students

The primary aim of the current study is to estimate the effect of different physical activity levels on hair trace element content in male and female students. A total of 113 students (59 women and 54 men) of P. G. Demidov Yaroslavl State University (Yaroslavl, Russia) took part in the current investigation. According to the level of the physical activity, all students were divided into three groups: high, medium, and low physical activity. Essential and toxic metal content (μg/g) in hair samples was assessed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry using NexION 300D + NWR213 (Perkin-Elmer, USA). The obtained data show that hair iodine, zinc, arsenic, nickel, and tin levels are not related to physical activity in male and female students. At the same time, increased physical activity is associated with decreased hair copper, vanadium, bismuth, and mercury content in comparison to the low physical activity groups. Students with higher physical activity are also characterized by significantly higher hair cobalt, iron, manganese, selenium, cadmium, lithium, and lead concentrations. Finally, statistical analysis has revealed maximal gender differences in hair trace element content in the high physical activity groups, whereas in the low activity groups, the hair metal concentrations were nearly similar in females and males.

Zinc asparaginate supplementation induces redistribution of toxic trace elements in rat tissues and organs.

Abstract The primary objective of the current study was the investigation of the influence of zinc asparaginate supplementation for 7 and 14 days on toxic metal and metalloid content in rat organs and tissues. Rats obtained zinc asparaginate in doses of 5 and 15 mg/kg/day for 7 and 14 days. At the end of the experiment rat tissues and organs (liver, kidney, heart, m. gastrocnemius, serum, and hair) were collected for subsequent analysis. Estimation of Zn, Al, As, Li, Ni, Sn, Sr content in the harvested organs was performed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry at NexION 300D. The obtained data showed that intragastric administration of zinc significantly increased liver, kidney and serum zinc concentrations. Seven-day zinc treatment significantly affected the toxic trace element content in the animals’ organs. Zinc supplementation significantly decreased particularly liver aluminium, nickel, and tin content, whereas lead tended to increase. Zinc-induced changes in kidney metal content were characterized by elevated lithium and decreased nickel concentration. Zinc-induced alteration of myocardical toxic element content was multidirectional. Muscle aluminium and lead concentration were reduced in response to zinc supplementation. At the same time, serum and hair toxic element concentrations remained relatively stable after 7-day zinc treatment. Zinc asparaginate treatment of 14 days significantly depressed liver and elevated kidney lithium content, whereas a significant zinc-associated decrease was detected in kidney strontium content. Zinc supplementation for 14 days resulted also in multidirectional changes in the content of heart toxic elements. At the same time, significant zinc-associated decrease in muscle lithium and nickel levels was observed. Fourteen-day zinc treatment resulted in significantly increased serum arsenic and tin concentrations, whereas hair trace element content remained relatively stable. Generally, the obtained data indicate a significant redistribution of toxic metals in the animal organism under zinc supplementation.

Assessing the boron nutritional status by analyzing its cummulative frequency distribution in the hair and whole blood

Boron is a non-essential ubiquitous trace element in the human body. The aim of this study was to assess boron nutritional status by analyzing boron frequency distribution in the long-term biological indicator tissue of hair and the short-term biological indicator of whole blood. Hair samples were analyzed in 727 apparently healthy subjects (263 ♂ and 464 ♀) and the whole blood boron was analyzed in the random subsample of them (80 ♂ and 152 ♀). Samples were analyzed by the ICP-MS at the Center for Biotic Medicine, Moscow, Russia. The adequate reference range for hair boron concentration was (μg∙g-1) 0.771- 6.510 for men and distinctly lower 0.472-3.89 for women; there was no detectable difference in the whole blood boron for the adequate reference range between men (0.020-.078) and women (0019-0.062). Boron may play an essential role in the metabolism of the connective tissue of the biological bone matrix.

Comparative analysis and the coverage intervals of hair rare metal content in two Russian industrial centres

ABSTRACT The existing data provide information on hair essential and toxic trace element content, whereas data on ultra-trace and rare elements are scarce. Therefore, the primary aim of the current study was to estimate hair levels and reference values of hair rare metal content using IUPAC recommendations in 2593 occupationally non-exposed adults living in Moscow and Novosibirsk (1900 women and 693 men). Hair Ag, Au, Ga, Ge, La, Rb, Tl, W and Zr content was assessed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with NexION 300D. Women were characterised by significantly higher hair Ag and Au levels than men, whereas men had increased La, Rb, Tl, W and Zr content as compared to women. Moscow inhabitants were characterised by significantly higher hair Au and Ge, and lower hair Ga, La, Rb, Tl, W and Zr content as compared to the ones from Novosibirsk. The coverage intervals of Ag, Au, Ga, Ge, La, Rb, Tl, W and Zr content in hair of the general sample of examinees calculated in accordance with IUPAC recommendations were 0.0278–0.2994, 0.0159–0.1812, 0.0062–0.0348, 0.0022–0.0066, 0.0023–0.0205, 0.0226–0.2083, 0.0002–0.0008, 0.0022–0.0120 and 0.0389–0.3521 μg/g, respectively. The obtained data indicate that both gender and geographical location affect hair rare metal content in adults.