Correlation between lead and prolactin in males exposed and unexposed to lead in Buenos Aires (Argentina) area.

Abstract

Lead is an important factor in environmental pollution due to its intensive industrial use and in Argentina it is perhaps the main industrial contaminant. In most cases lead toxicity is related to alterations in heme synthesis. It is also responsible for changes in the central nervous system. Researchers have reported the action of lead on the dopaminergic transmission mechanism in the central nervous system of rats. The control of prolactin levels by an agent whose identity is still uncertain is known to involve undoubtedly a dopaminergic mechanism by which an increase in dopamine depresses plasma prolactin values. The purpose of this work was to determine the correlation between blood lead and plasma prolactin levels in humans. Normal plasma prolactin and blood lead values in healthy individuals exposed to lead at work had already been obtained in males and ranged from 1 to 17 ng/ml for prolactin and up to 26 ug/100 ml for lead.