Abstract
In this work, we explored to use chemometrics-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to investigate the plasma biochemical changes due to acute lead poisoning (ALP) in a rat model. We first collected the FTIR spectra of the plasma samples from the rats with and without suffering from ALP. We then performed the chemometric analysis of these FTIR spectra using principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). We found that the chemometrics-based FTIR spectroscopy can discriminate the rats with and without ALP. Further analysis on the PLS-DA regression coefficient revealed that the spectral changes, in particular, corresponding to the biochemical changes of proteins in the plasma may be used as potential spectral biomarkers for the diagnostics of lead poisoning. Our work demonstrates the potential of chemometrics-based FTIR spectroscopy as a promising tool for the biochemical analysis of plasma that could consequently enable an objective, convenient and non-destructive diagnostics of lead poisoning. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first application of chemometrics-based FTIR spectroscopy in the diagnostics of lead poisoning.
Highlights
Lead is an omnipresent metal that has been used since prehistoric times
We focused on the biochemical changes of plasma after lead poisoning using a rat model suffering from acute lead poisoning (ALP)
These second derivative spectra were the dataset used in the following chemometric analysis
Summary
Lead is an omnipresent metal that has been used since prehistoric times. Prior to the industrial revolution, human exposure to lead in the environment was relatively low, but significantly increased over time due to modern industrial activities. It is estimated that over 300 million tons of lead has been released to the environment by human activities (Tong et al, 2000), which leads to a rapid increase in lead exposure to the environment. A previous study indicated that the lowest levels of human blood lead in industrial era were 50–200 times higher than preindustrial era (Flegal and Smith, 1992b). In the middle and late nineteenth century, lead poisoning became a serious health problem among
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