| Title |
Mercury (Hg) Exposure in Breast-Fed Infants and Their Mothers and the Evidence of Oxidative Stress
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Biological Trace Element Research, May 2013
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s12011-013-9687-7 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Iman Al-Saleh, Mai Abduljabbar, Reem Al-Rouqi, Rola Elkhatib, Ammar Alshabbaheen, Neptune Shinwari |
| Abstract |
The objective of this work was to assess exposure to mercury (Hg) and its induction of oxidative stress in 155 healthy lactating Saudi mothers and their infants. Samples of breast milk and blood were collected from the mothers, while urine was taken from both infants and mothers. Both urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured in mothers and infants as biomarkers of oxidative stress. The mean concentration of Hg in breast milk was 1.19 μg/L (range 0.012-6.44 μg/L) with only one mother having Hg >4 μg/L, the upper limit established by the US Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry. However, 57.4 % had Hg ≥1 μg/L, the background level for Hg in human milk. The mean urinary Hg corrected for creatinine (Hg-C) in mothers and infants was 1.47 and 7.90 μg/g creatinine, respectively, with a significant correlation between the two (p < 0.001). Urinary Hg levels over 5 μg/g creatinine (the background level in an unexposed population) were found in 3.3 % of mothers and 50.1 % of infants. None of the mothers had total blood Hg above the US Environmental Protection Agency's maximum reference dose of 5.8 μg/L. No correlation was noted between urinary Hg in infants and Hg in breast milk (p > 0.05). Hg in breast milk, though, was associated with Hg in blood (p < 0.001), suggesting the efficient transfer of Hg from blood to milk. Hg in the breast milk of mothers and in the urine of infants affected the excretion of urinary MDA and 8-OHdG, respectively, in a dose-related manner. These findings reveal for the first time lactational exposure to Hg-induced oxidative stress in breast-fed infants, which may play a role in pathogenesis, particularly during neurodevelopment. This will also contribute to the debate over the benefits of breast milk versus the adverse effects of exposure to pollutants. Nevertheless, breastfeeding should not be discouraged, but efforts should be made to identify and eliminate the source of Hg exposure in the population. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 2 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 2 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 1 | 50% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 50% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 59 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 58 | 98% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 9 | 15% |
| Researcher | 9 | 15% |
| Student > Bachelor | 7 | 12% |
| Student > Master | 6 | 10% |
| Other | 5 | 8% |
| Other | 10 | 17% |
| Unknown | 13 | 22% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 6 | 10% |
| Environmental Science | 5 | 8% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 5 | 8% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 5 | 8% |
| Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 4 | 7% |
| Other | 16 | 27% |
| Unknown | 18 | 31% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 9. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 01 April 2022.
All research outputs
#4,091,350
of 24,549,201 outputs
Outputs from Biological Trace Element Research
#228
of 2,184 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#32,970
of 197,363 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Biological Trace Element Research
#2
of 23 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,549,201 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 83rd percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,184 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.2. This one has done well, scoring higher than 89% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 23 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.