PERIPHERAL MARKERS OF CATECHOLAMINE METABOLISM AMONG WORKERS OCCUPATIONALLY EXPOSED TO MANGANESE (MN)

Smargiassi, A.; Mergler, D.; Bergamaschi, Enrico; Vettori, M. V.; Lucchini, R.; Apostoli, P.

doi:10.1016/0378-4274(95)03314-9

In a preliminary study of 11 men randomly selected in a ferro-alloy plant and of 15 control subjects, platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) and serum dopamine P-hydroxylase (DBH) activities were measured. A tendency towards lower MAO-B activity in the exposed workers as compared to control subjects (t = 1.95; P = 0.06) was found whereas DBH activity was similar. In the exposed group, a dose-effect relationship was noted between a manganese (Mn) cumulative exposure index (CEI) and DBH activity (R(2) = 0.40, P < 0.05). Since DBH is an expression of catecholamine release, the relative increase in such activity could be envisaged as a compensatory mechanism to a reduced turnover rate as reflected by MAO-B activity. Owing to the limited sample size, these findings should be confirmed by further epidemiological and experimental studies.

PERIPHERAL MARKERS OF CATECHOLAMINE METABOLISM AMONG WORKERS OCCUPATIONALLY EXPOSED TO MANGANESE (MN) / A., Smargiassi; D., Mergler; Bergamaschi, Enrico; Vettori, M. V.; R., Lucchini; P., Apostoli. - In: TOXICOLOGY LETTERS. - ISSN 0378-4274. - 77:(1995), pp. 329-333. (Intervento presentato al convegno International Symposium on Human Health and Environment: Mechanisms of Toxicity and Biomarkers to Assess Adverse Effects of Chemicals tenutosi a SALSOMAGGIORE TERME, ITALY nel SEP 25-30, 1994) [10.1016/0378-4274(95)03314-9].