Abstract
Background/aim Lead can cause morphological and functional changes in heart, and inflammation and endothelial dysfunction in vasculature. Endocan, as a novel indicator of endothelial dysfunction, has been used for cardiovascular diseases. This study investigated the relationship between lead exposure, endocan levels, and diastolic functions.Materials and methodsA total of 51 lead-exposed workers without a known cardiovascular disease or risk factors and 54 healthy controls were enrolled. All participants underwent transthoracic echocardiography. Blood lead and serum endocan levels were analyzed.Results Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were found to be similar between groups. Median blood lead (32 vs 1.5 µg/dL, P < 0.001) and serum endocan levels (67 vs 57.1 pg/mL, P = 0.02) were significantly higher in the lead-exposed group. Serum endocan level showed a positive correlation with blood lead levels (r = 0.404, P = 0.003) in lead-exposed workers. Serum endocan level was an independent risk factor for increased E/E’ ratio (β = 0.704, P = 0.002) and left atrial volume index (β = 1.158, P = 0.011) and higher level of lead in blood was an independent risk factor for increased E wave (β = 8.004, P = 0.022) in lead-exposed workers. Conclusion Worsened diastolic functions may be seen in the course of lead exposure. Due to sharing a similar mechanism, a higher serum level of endocan may be a valuable laboratory clue for impaired diastolic function in this population.
Highlights
Lead, a common environmental toxic agent, gives rise to plenty of cardiovascular diseases including ischemic heart disease, arterial hypertension, morphological, and functional changes in heart [1,2,3]
Serum endocan level showed a positive correlation with blood lead levels (r = 0.404, P = 0.003) in lead-exposed workers
Worsened diastolic functions may be seen in the course of lead exposure
Summary
A common environmental toxic agent, gives rise to plenty of cardiovascular diseases including ischemic heart disease, arterial hypertension, morphological, and functional changes in heart [1,2,3]. Though its exposure is considered to be a risk factor for development of cardiovascular diseases primarily related to arterial hypertension, it is capable of causing endothelial dysfunction [4]. Known as endothelial cell-specific molecule-1, is a soluble proteoglycan expressed by vascular endothelial cells [5]. Previous studies demonstrated that endocan has a key role in the pathological process of endothelial dysfunction, and serum endocan level increases in endothelium-dependent pathologies, inflammatory. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between blood lead levels, serum endocan levels, and diastolic functions measured by echocardiography in leadexposed workers
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