Abstract
Through contaminated diet, water, and other forms of environmental exposure, arsenic affects human health. There are many U.S. and worldwide “hot spots” where the arsenic level in public water exceeds the maximum exposure limit. The biological effects of chronic arsenic exposure include generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), leading to oxidative stress and DNA damage, epigenetic DNA modification, induction of genomic instability, and inflammation and immunomodulation, all of which can initiate carcinogenesis. High arsenic exposure is epidemiologically associated with skin, lung, bladder, liver, kidney and pancreatic cancer, and cardiovascular, neuronal, and other diseases. This review briefly summarizes the biological effects of arsenic exposure and epidemiological cancer studies worldwide, and provides an overview for emerging rodent-based studies of reagents that can ameliorate the effects of arsenic exposure in vivo. These reagents may be translated to human populations for disease prevention. We propose the importance of developing a biomarker-based precision prevention approach for the health issues associated with arsenic exposure that affects millions of people worldwide.
Highlights
Arsenic is a poisonous heavy metal that is plentiful in the crust of the earth
This review briefly summarizes the biological effects of arsenic exposure and epidemiological cancer studies worldwide, and provides an overview for emerging rodent-based studies of reagents that can ameliorate the effects of arsenic exposure in vivo
Evaluations included: (i) histopathological evaluation of tissues of interest, (ii) DNA damage evaluation, (iii) reactive oxygen species (ROS)-related biomarkers and antioxidant enzymes (iv) anti-oxidative activity, which decreases with arsenic exposure, in tissues of interest, (v) lipid oxidation as a marker of ROS exposure, (vi) markers for tissue damage, such as aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and bilirubin, and (vii) tissue-specific cellular assay such as sperm motility
Summary
Arsenic is a poisonous heavy metal that is plentiful in the crust of the earth. It can take a variety of forms: organic and inorganic, with various valences, i.e., (III) or (V). Epidemiological studies from high arsenic exposure areas have elucidated that arsenic in drinking water and several cancers, including lung, bladder, liver, kidney, skin, and pancreatic cancer, are associated (See Table 1: Human organs epidemiologically linked to arsenicmediated carcinogenesis).
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