Murat BÜYÜKŞEKERCİ, CEYLAN BAL, Mehmet Erdem ALAGÜNEY, Müjde GÜNDÜZÖZ, Asım HOCAOĞLU, Lütfiye TUTKUN, ÖMER HINÇ YILMAZ, Erol Rauf AĞIŞ

Evaluation of folate and vitamin B12 levels in lead exposed workers

Amaç: Kurşun ağır bir metal olup, hematopoetik sis- tem, kardiyovasküler sistem, renal ve hepatik sistemde disfonksiyona neden olur. Bu çalışmanın amacı kurşun maruziyetinin vitamin B12 ve folat seviyesine etkisinin araştırılmasıdır. Yöntemler: 2010-2014 yılları arasında Ankara Meslek Hastalıkları Hastanesine periyodik muayene amaçlı baş- vuran tam kan kurşun, serum vitamin B12 ve folat düzey- lerine bakılmış 944 kişi çalışmaya dahil edildi. Kurşun se- viyesi 10μg/dLnin üzerinde çıkan 432 kişi kurşun maruz grup, 10μg/dLnin altında çıkan 512 kişi ise kontrol grubu olarak kullanıldı. Vitamin B12 ve folat düzeyleri iki grup arasında karşılaştırıldı. Ayrıca korelasyon analizi yapıldı. Bulgular: Kurşun maruz grubun median folat seviyesi 6,3 ng/mL (3,60-17,46), median vitamin B12 seviyesi ise 310 pg/mL (180-854) idi. Kontrol grubunun folat seviyesi 6,8 (3,60-19,67) ng/mL median vitamin B12 seviyesi ise 324 pg/mL (190-833) idi (p değerleri; folat için

Kurşun maruziyeti olan işçilerde folat ve vitamin B12 seviyelerinin değerlendirilmesi

Objective: Lead (Pb) is a heavy metal and causes dys- function in hematopoietic, cardiovascular, renal and he- patic systems. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of lead exposure on serum vitamin B12 and folate levels. Methods: 944 patients who were referred to Ankara Oc- cupational Disease Hospital between 2010 and 2014 for periodic examination and whose whole blood lead, serum vitamin B12 and folate levels were assessed are included in this study. 432 patients with whole blood lead levels over 10 μg/dL are defined as exposed group and 512 pa- tients with lead levels below 10μg/dL are considered as control group. Vitamin B12 and folate levels were com- pared between two groups. Correlation analysis was also performed. Results: In the lead exposed group the median folate level was 6.3 ng/mL (3.60-17.46) and median vitamin B12 level was 310 pg/mL (180-854) where as folate level was 6.8 (3.60-19.67) ng/mL and median vitamin B12 level was 324 pg/mL (190-833) in the control group. The differ- ence between two groups was statistically significant (p value: <0.001 for folate and 0.015 for vitamin B12). Lead levels correlated negatively with folate levels (r=-0.105; p=0.001). There was no correlation between lead and vi- tamin B12 (r=-0.061, p=0.062). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that serum folate and vitamin B12 concentrations were negatively associ- ated with lead exposure. It may be important to keep suf- ficient levels of these micronutrients to prevent possible harmful effects of Pb exposure regarding hyperhomocys- teinemia.

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