DNA Damage by Heavy Metals in Animals and Human Beings: An Overview

Abstract

Cancer causing materials are found in air, water and in some other consumer products in the form of heavy metals. Biomedical research has shown that exposure to heavy metals is an important source of DNA damage in human beings and in animals. Heavy metals like iron, copper, chromium, lead, zinc, mercury, nickel etc. and reactive oxygen species enhance peroxidation of lipids and DNA damage. Elements like arsenic, nickel and cadmium are the ambassadors of mutagenic changes in cell. In mammalian cells it was found that DNA single strand breaks chromosomal aberrations occurred and sister chromatids exchange due to various nickel salts. It is now a wellestablished fact that cadmium causes cancer in tissues of animals. Exposure to cadmium develops cancer in prostate gland, kidney, liver and stomach. Through base pair mutation cancer causing metals damage DNA. However, some heavy metals directly damage the DNA thus generating negative results. The synthesis of nucleic acids and proteins is affected by cadmium. However, cadmium does not have a strong mutagenic nature when compared to other heavy metals. The present review aims to prospect the exposure (of human beings and animals) to heavy metals, cause of different diseases in both and mutagenic effect of heavy metals on double strand repair.

Biosensing the Presence of Metal Nanoparticles by Spectrally- and Time-Resolved Endogenous Fluorescence in Water Moss Fontinalis antipyretica

“…Excessive levels of metals such as Co, Cu, or Zn, induced by industrial developments, thus often lead to detrimental effects on living cells and organisms [2]. Heavy metals induce lipid peroxidation and DNA damage leading to several diseases, namely various types of cancer [3]. Other potential harmful effects include metabolic disorders, lung inflammation, hepatic and/or heart diseases, as well as nervous system problems and foetal as well as birth defects [4,5].…”

A Gateway to Metal Resistance: Bacterial Response to Heavy Metal Toxicity in the Biological Environment

“…Probably the most important feature which distinguishes the heavy metals from other toxic pollutants is that they are not biodegradable, and having entered the environment where their potential toxicity is controlled to a great extent by biological and geochemical factors [2]. The toxicity of heavy metals to plants [3,4] and animals [5] is well known. It is primarily the avidity of heavy metals for natural metal-binding agents which determine their toxicity.…”

“…They may cause disruption of enzyme structure and function by binding with thiol and other groups on protein molecules which may replace metals naturally occurring in enzyme prosthetic groups [6]. Metals have also been shown to bind with and disrupt deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) [5]. The bioaccumulation of some metals is an important aspect of their toxicity [7,8] which may result in the appearance of symptoms after prolonged exposure; their accumulation may also lead to mobilisation through food chains [9] with possible effects on higher organisms.…”

Environmental Exposures during Puberty: Window of Breast Cancer Risk and Epigenetic Damage

“…Heavy metals are strongly linked to carcinogenesis and have been associated with epigenetic modifications in mice and humans [46,47]. Lead, along with other metals (such as chromium), has been seen to induce oxidative stress in cells by altering the cells epigenome [46,48]. Cadmium exposure increased DNA methylation of imprint control regions by 10% in mother/child pairs [49].…”