Research article
Arsenic exposure through drinking water increases the risk of liver and cardiovascular diseases in the population of West Bengal, India
1 Molecular and Human Genetics Division, CSIR- Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, 4, Raja S. C. Mullick Road, Kolkata, 700 032, India
2 Sir Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, 700 014, India
3 Department of Medicine, Calcutta National Medical College, Kolkata, 700 017, West Bengal, India
4 Department of General Medicine, Sri Aurobindo Seva Kendra, Kolkata, 700068, West Bengal, India
5 Regional Institute of Opthalmology, Calcutta Medical College, Kolkata, 700073, West Bengal, India
6 Tata Main Hospital, Jamshedpur, 831001, Jharkhand, India
7 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 40209, USA
BMC Public Health 2012, 12:639 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-12-639
Published: 10 August 2012Abstract
Background
Arsenic is a natural drinking water contaminant affecting 26 million people in West Bengal, India. Chronic arsenic exposure causes cancer, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, neuropathies and ocular diseases. The aims of the present study were to assess bioindicators of hepatocellular injury as indicated by the levels of liver enzymes, to determine the auto immune status, as indicated by the amounts of anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) and anti-dsDNA antibodies in their serum, and to predict cardiovascular risk in the arsenic exposed population.
Methods
Effect of chronic arsenic exposure on liver was determined by liver function tests. Autoimmune status was measured by measuring ANA and anti-dsDNA in serum. Inflammatory cytokines associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk, IL6, IL8 and MCP-1 were determined.
Results
Our results indicated that serum levels of bilirubin, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase and ANA were increased in the arsenic exposed population. Serum levels of IL6 and IL8 also increased in the arsenic exposed group.
Conclusions
Chronic arsenic exposure causes liver injury, increases the serum levels of autoimmune markers and imparts increased cardiovascular risk.
