Are Heavy Metal Exposure and Trace Element Levels Related to Metabolic and Endocrine Problems in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome?

Antioxidant Status in Relation to Heavy Metals Induced Oxidative Stress in Patients With Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)

“…The main hallmark features of the current investigation were the lowered GSG and SOD in PCOS group when compared to control group (p < 0.001).GSH functions as an important antioxidant performing vital cellular functions 27 .GSH catalyzes detoxi cation of oxidizing compounds via its thiol groups 28 . Various chronic conditionsincluding cancer, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases are reported to have lowered antioxidant status 29 .Lowered levels of GSH among PCOS women asevidenced in the current report, are in accordance with previous ndings 30,31 . Interestingly, similar trend in antioxidant status was observed with repect to SOD.…”

“…Effect of chronic and relatively low Hg exposure on are known to inhibit enzymatic activity thereby inducing OS and can be sometimes genotoxic to the cells 46 .Hg occupational and experimental exposures have shown that Hg induces several reproductive and metabolic abnormalities, such as reproductive cyclicity disturbances, irregular ovarian follicular development, ovulation inhibition, infertility, spontaneous miscarriage, increase visceral adiposity, risk of diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome in rodent and human models 44,47 .Besides As and Cd, Pb and Hg are also known to exert deleterious effects on human health by cellular dysfunction generatingOS. The increased levels of Hg among PCOS are in line with previous nding 30 .…”

“…Intriguingly, heavy metals investigated (As, Cd ,Pb and Hg) in the present study exhibited signi cant increase in the levels of these elements among PCOS women (P < 0.001) which are in accordance with previous nding 30 .Nevertheless, with respect to As, levels exhibited signi cant difference in contrast to the nding of Kirmizi et al,2020. 30 Cd is non-essential element with no physiological or biochemical signi cance. Leafy vegetables, grains, crustaceans, mushrooms, shell sh, mussels, liver and kidney are few food sources contains adequate amount of Cd and responsible for Cd intoxication 40 .…”

“…In a Turkish based study on PCOS females, Kurdoglu etal .,2012 reported no signi cant difference in levels of Cd and reported lowered Pb levels among these females 42 .On contrary, the current study observed an increase in serum Cd among PCOS. Nevertheless, increased Cd did not exhibited any signi cant association with antioxidant markers as observed in previous nding 30 .As is found detrimental to human body effecting various organ and organ systems 43 . In addition to Cd and As, another important environmental toxicant/ pollutant that is widespread is Hg.…”

“…In a study by Zheng et al,2015, no signi cant change was reported in the level of these heavy metals in Chinese women 39 . On contrary, Kirmizi et al,2020 demonstrated increased levels of Cd, Hg and Pb between the two groups 30 . Intriguingly, heavy metals investigated (As, Cd ,Pb and Hg) in the present study exhibited signi cant increase in the levels of these elements among PCOS women (P < 0.001) which are in accordance with previous nding 30 .Nevertheless, with respect to As, levels exhibited signi cant difference in contrast to the nding of Kirmizi et al,2020.…”