Abstract
Environmental contamination has exposed humans to various metal agents, including mercury. It has been determined that mercury is not only harmful to the health of vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and children, but is also toxic to ordinary adults in various ways. For many years, mercury was used in a wide variety of human activities. Nowadays, the exposure to this metal from both natural and artificial sources is significantly increasing. Recent studies suggest that chronic exposure, even to low concentration levels of mercury, can cause cardiovascular, reproductive, and developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, immunotoxicity, and carcinogenicity. Possible biological effects of mercury, including the relationship between mercury toxicity and diseases of the cardiovascular system, such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, and myocardial infarction, are being studied. As heart rhythm and function are under autonomic nervous system control, it has been hypothesized that the neurotoxic effects of mercury might also impact cardiac autonomic function. Mercury exposure could have a long-lasting effect on cardiac parasympathetic activity and some evidence has shown that mercury exposure might affect heart rate variability, particularly early exposures in children. The mechanism by which mercury produces toxic effects on the cardiovascular system is not fully elucidated, but this mechanism is believed to involve an increase in oxidative stress. The exposure to mercury increases the production of free radicals, potentially because of the role of mercury in the Fenton reaction and a reduction in the activity of antioxidant enzymes, such as glutathione peroxidase. In this review we report an overview on the toxicity of mercury and focus our attention on the toxic effects on the cardiovascular system.
Highlights
As far back as 20,000–30,000 years BC, Paleolithic artists used various pigments, including cinnabar due to its red color, to draw hunting scenes with bison, bulls, stags, horses, humans, and handprints in negative images on cave walls (Altamira-Spain and Lascaux-France caves)
Iraq produced deaths, and multiple and when bread was prepared and eaten from wheat seeds that had been treated with fungicides containing long-lasting intoxication symptoms, including blindness, deafness, mental retardation, cerebral organic mercury compounds [6,7]
Mitochondrial functions are altered, mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) is affected with a reduction of the membrane potential, oxidative phosphorylation, and adenosine 5’-triphosphate (ATP) production. Another mechanism through which mercury is responsible for toxic effects on the cardiovascular system is the inactivation of the paraoxonase, an extracellular antioxidative enzyme related to HDL
Summary
As far back as 20,000–30,000 years BC, Paleolithic artists used various pigments, including cinnabar (mercuric sulfide, HgS) due to its red color, to draw hunting scenes with bison, bulls, stags, horses, humans, and handprints in negative images on cave walls (Altamira-Spain and Lascaux-France caves). Two methylmercury poisoning events are worthy of mention These accidents, Certainly, the exposure to mercury brought harmful effects to health of humans and called the attention resulting from world the deposition of industrial waste containing large quantities of methylmercury [5,6], of the scientific after the epidemics occurred in Japan and in Iraq. Iraq produced deaths, and multiple and when bread was prepared and eaten from wheat seeds that had been treated with fungicides containing long-lasting intoxication symptoms, including blindness, deafness, mental retardation, cerebral organic mercury compounds [6,7]. Multiple and long-lasting intoxication symptoms, including deafness, mental retardation, Methylmercury, the most toxic mercury compound, is an organic mercurial compound primarily cerebral palsy, and dysarthria especially in children exposed in utero [8]. We attempt to present an understanding of the role that exposure to mercury plays in cardiovascular diseases
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
