Abstract:
Lead (Pb), is found in the environment of industrialized and underdeveloped
countries. Its toxicity manifests in various pathological symptoms and diseases
including hypertension. Hypertension increases the risk of atherosclerosis leading to
morbidity and mortality. The underline pathology may in part be due to lead-induced
oxidative stress via generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inhibiting function
of Ca2+-containing antioxidant enzyme, paraoxonase (PON). The human paraoxonase
gene family consists of three members, PON1, PON2, and PON3. Paraoxonase is
capable of hydrolyzing oxidized lipids and thus protects against atherosclerosis.
In this study, we investigated the effect of lead-induced oxidative stress on
oxidative stress parameters and PON activity in 65 Lead-exposed and 61 Non-exposed
Thai workers. The levels of oxidative stress index (OSI), conjugated diene (CD), total
peroxide, and malondialdehyde (MDA) in Lead-exposed group were highly
significantly increased when compared to the Non-exposed group. Whereas, the levels
of total antioxidant status (TAS), paraoxonase 1 (PON1) activity toward phenyl
acetate, PON2, and PON3 activities in Lead-exposed group were highly significant
decreased when compared to the Non-exposed group. The gene distribution for the
PON1 L55M, Q192R, and T-107C polymorphisms were 91.3 % LL, 2.4 % LM, 6.3 %
MM , 16.7 % QQ, 43.7 % QR, 39.6 % RR, 37.3 % CC, 38.9 % CT, and 23.8 % TT,
respectively and for the PON2 C311S polymorphism was 10.3 % CC, 32.5 % CS, and
57.2 % SS. Significant linkage disequilibrium was found between Q192R and T-107C
polymorphisms, whereas there was no significant linkage disequilibrium between
PON1 and PON2 polymorphisms.
There was a significant difference in total peroxide levels according to PON1 T-
107C polymorphisms. Meanwhile, the variations of PON1 and PON3 activities in each
substrate were influenced by PON1 polymorphisms. Taken together, these results
indicated that lead exposure may increase susceptibility to atherosclerosis due to an
increase in oxidative stress levels and decrease in serum PON1, PON2 and PON3
activities.