Urinary¹H NMR metabolomics profile of Italian citizens exposed to background levels of arsenic: a (pre)cautionary tale

Abstract

Objectives: Arsenic is a toxic metal ubiquitous in the environment and in daily life items. Long-term arsenic exposure is associated with severe adverse health effects involving various target organs. It would be useful to investigate the existence of metabolic alterations associated with lifestyle and/or with the environment. For this purpose, we studied the correlation between urinary arsenic levels and urinary proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1 H NMR) metabolomics profiles in a nonoccupationally nor environmentally arsenic exposed general population. Methods: Urine samples were collected from 86 healthy subjects. Total and non-alimentary urinary arsenic (U-naAs) levels, namely the sum of arsenite, arsenate, monomethylarsonate and dimethylarsinate, were measured and 1 H NMR analysis was performed. Orthogonal Projection to Latent Structures was applied to explore the correlation between the metabolomics profiles and U-naAs levels. Results: Despite the extremely low U-naAs levels (mean value ¼ 6.13 ± 3.17 mg/g creatinine) of our studied population a urinary metabolomics profile related to arsenic was identified. Conclusion: The identified profile could represent a fingerprint of early arsenic biological effect and could be used in further studies as an indicator of susceptibility, also in subjects exposed to a low arsenic dose, with implications in occupational health, toxicology, and public health.