Abstract
Globally, human exposure to environmental pollutants causes an estimated 9 million deaths per year and it could also be implicated in the etiology of diseases that do not appear to have a genetic origin. Accordingly, there is a need to gain information about the biomolecular mechanisms that causally link exposure to inorganic environmental pollutants with distinct adverse health effects. Although the analysis of blood plasma and red blood cell (RBC) cytosol can provide important biochemical information about these mechanisms, the inherent complexity of these biological matrices can make this a difficult task. In this perspective, we will examine the use of metalloentities that are present in plasma and RBC cytosol as potential exposure biomarkers to assess human exposure to inorganic pollutants. Our primary objective is to explore the principal bioinorganic processes that contribute to increased or decreased metalloprotein concentrations in plasma and/or RBC cytosol. Furthermore, we will also identify metabolites which can form in the bloodstream and contain essential as well as toxic metals for use as exposure biomarkers. While the latter metal species represent useful biomarkers for short-term exposure, endogenous plasma metalloproteins represent indicators to assess the long-term exposure of an individual to inorganic pollutants. Based on these considerations, the quantification of metalloentities in blood plasma and/or RBC cytosol is identified as a feasible research avenue to better understand the adverse health effects that are associated with chronic exposure of various human populations to inorganic pollutants. Exposure to these pollutants will likely increase as a consequence of technological advances, including the fast-growing applications of metal-based engineering nanomaterials.
Highlights
Ever since Earth came into being 4.5 billion years ago, ‘Panta rhei’, which means ‘everything flows’, has described the dynamic mingling of chemical elements and their species between the geosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere and the biosphere
While some researchers have reported that the analysis of excised organs from sentinel organisms that inhabit a particular area is useful in detecting toxic metal-containing exposure biomarkers [62], comparatively less is known about metal-containing biomarkers in the bloodstream, which is in constant contact with all organs
It seems prudent to critically assess the inherent potential that metalloentities that are contained in plasma and/or red blood cell (RBC) cytosol can offer in the context of assessing the chronic exposure of mammalian organisms, including humans, to inorganic environmental pollutants
Summary
Ever since Earth came into being 4.5 billion years ago, ‘Panta rhei’ (attributed to Heraclitus), which means ‘everything flows’, has described the dynamic mingling of chemical elements and their species between the geosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere and the biosphere (i.e., all living organisms). Concentrations in plasma and RBC cytosol may be potentially useful as indirect indicators The bioinorganic problem refers to the in vivo formation of metalloentities in plasma of the cumulative environmental exposure to individual or multiple inorganic pollutants. The bioinorganic problem refers to the in vivo formation of metalloentities in plasma While the formation of these species is of inherent toxicological relevance, not all of these and/or RBC cytosol which contain an essential metal and a toxic metal/metalloid [29]. Information proteins from organs to the bloodstream, which directly relates to the analytical on the stability of bioinorganic complexes in different biological compartments is of improblem endogenous metalloproteins plasma.and. After a brief overview ofuseful the endogenous to gain insight into the inherently complex interaction between mammalian organisms metalloproteins which are present in human blood plasma and RBC cytosol (i.e., lysate), and their environment. Systems toxicology will be identified as a useful approach to obtain deeper insight into how the chronic exposure of human populations to toxic metals is potentially linked to disease processes [35]
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