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Environ. Int., May 2024, 187 S0160-4120(24)00295-2 | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.108709 Associations between plasma metabolites and heavy metal exposure in residents of environmentally polluted areas

Mi Jeong Kim ^a,1, Min Heo ^b,1, Su Jung Kim ^a, Ha Eun Song ^a, Hyoyeong Lee ^a, Nam-Eun Kim ^d, Hyeongyu Shin ^b, Ah Ra Do ^b,f, Jeeyoung Kim ^c, Yong Min Choⁱ, Young-Seoub Hong ^j, Woo Jin Kim^c, Sungho Won^b,d,e,f, Hyun Ju Yoo ^a,g,h

^aBiomedical Research Center, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea

^bInterdisciplinary Program of Bioinformatics, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea

^cDepartment of Internal Medicine and Environmental Health Center, Kangwon National University Hospital, Kangwon National University School of Medicine, Chuncheon, South Korea

^dDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea

^eInstitute of Health and Environment, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea

^fRexSoft Corp, Seoul, South Korea

^gDepartment of Convergence Medicine, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea

^hDepartment of Digital Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

ⁱDepartment of Nano Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seokyeong University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

^jDepartment of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Dong-A University, 32, Daesin Gongwon-ro, Seo-gu, Busan 49201, Korea

¹Contributed equally to this work.

Corresponding authors: Sungho Won, Hyun Ju Yoo

Abstract

Heavy metals are commonly released into the environment through industrial processes such as mining and refining. The rapid industrialization that occurred in South Korea during the 1960s and 1970s contributed significantly to the economy of the country; however, the associated mining and refining led to considerable environmental pollution, and although mining is now in decline in South Korea, the detrimental effects on residents inhabiting the surrounding areas remain. The bioaccumulation of toxic heavy metals leads to metabolic alterations in human homeostasis, with disruptions in this balance leading to various health issues. This study used metabolomics to explore metabolomic alterations in the plasma samples of residents living in mining and refining areas. The results showed significant increases in metabolites involved in glycolysis and the surrounding metabolic pathways, such as glucose-6-phosphate, phosphoenolpyruvate, lactate, and inosine monophosphate, in those inhabiting polluted areas. An investigation of the associations between metabolites and blood clinical parameters through meet-in-the-middle analysis indicated that female residents were more affected by heavy metal exposure, resulting in more metabolomic alterations. For women, inhabiting the abandoned mine area, metabolites in the glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathways, such as ribose-5-phosphate and 3-phosphoglycerate, have shown a negative correlation with albumin and calcium. Finally, Mendelian randomization(MR) was used to determine the causal effects of these heavy metal exposure-related metabolites on heavy metal exposure-related clinical parameters. Metabolite biomarkers could provide insights into altered metabolic pathways related to exposure to toxic heavy metals and improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the health effects of toxic heavy metal exposure.

논문정보

형식Research article
게재일2024년 05월 (BRIC 등록일 2024-05-22)
연구진국내 연구진
분야 의약학 > 인체시스템의학

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