Gender-Specific Protective Effect of Hemoglobin on Arsenic-Induced Skin Lesions

Abstract

Chronic arsenic poisoning remains a public health crisis in Bangladesh. As arsenic has been shown to bind to human hemoglobin (Hb), hematologic mechanisms may play a role in the pathway through which arsenic exerts its toxicity. Two separate studies, a case-control and a cohort, were conducted to investigate the role of Hb in the development of arsenic-induced skin lesions. In the first, conditional logistic regression was used to investigate the effect of Hb on skin lesions among 900 case-control pairs from Pabna, Bangladesh, in which individuals were matched on gender, age, and location. In the second, mixed linear regression models were used to examine the association between toenail arsenic, urinary arsenic, and Hb within a cohort of 184 individuals from 50 families in the same region who did not have arsenic-induced skin lesions. Hb was significantly associated with skin lesions but this association was gender specific. In males, a 40% reduction in the odds of skin lesions occurred for every 1 g/dL increase in Hb (odds ratio, 0.60; 95% confidence interval, 0.49-0.73). No effect was observed for females (odds ratio, 1.16; 95% confidence interval, 0.92-1.46). In the cohort of 184 individuals, no associations between toenail arsenic or urinary arsenic species and Hb levels were observed. Low Hb levels may exacerbate the detrimental health effects of chronic arsenic poisoning. Whereas providing clean water remains the optimal solution to Bangladesh's problem of arsenic poisoning, improving nutrition and reducing iron-deficiency anemia may ameliorate negative health effects, such as skin lesions in individuals who have been exposed.

Effect of arsenic trioxide along with tannic acid, di-sodium hydrogen phosphate, alum and effects of sand-charcoal-iron-filter bed filtrated water along with alum on body weight and some hematological parameters in rabbit

“…The results was in accordance with the findings of Blair et al, (1990);Ferzand et al, (2012); Gyasi et al, (2012) and Sarker et al, (2012). In the same type of studies conducted by Breton et al, (2006) and Gupta and Flora (2006) and they examined the hematological alteration due to arsenic and their results were correlated with our results that TEC and Hb was decreased. This could be due to binding ability of arsenic to Hb that led to inhibition of heme synthesis pathway.…”

Effectiveness of combined treatment using Spirulina and vitamin A against chronic arsenicosis in rats

“…Chronic arsenic toxicity might cause decreased in TEC and anaemia. The effects observed in this study and outcomes of treatment using Spirulina plus vitamin A treatment had earlier been corroborated by Gupta et al (2007); Breton et al (2006) and Juruli and Katsitadze (2007). They reported decreasing RBC level with increased concentration of arsenic due to arsenic metabolism and its methylating activity.…”

Arsenic Exposure and Anemia in Bangladesh: A Population-Based Study

“…In a recent case-control study, hemoglobin level was significantly inversely associated with arsenicrelated skin lesions, the hallmark of chronic arsenic poisoning. 14 We conducted a cross-sectional study among the first 1954 members participating in the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study to evaluate the association between arsenic exposure and hemoglobin concentration. In addition, we examined whether the hemoglobin concentrations were associated with the risk of arsenicrelated skin lesions.…”