Original Research ArticleInternational Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Publication: Urinary calcium: a promising predictive biomarker for early recognition of environmental lead exposure in children
Int J Res Med Sci. 2019;7(6):2265-2272.DOI10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20192510
Abstract
Background In the continuous search for accessible, reliable and sensitive biomarkers for early detection of environmental lead exposure, authors determined the interaction between blood lead level (BLL), the conventional marker of lead exposure, and the indices of calcium and bone metabolism in children.
Methods This cross-sectional study involved 309 apparently healthy children from eight public primary schools in Ibadan, Nigeria who were classified as Elevated BLL (EBLL) and control based on standard cut-off for childhood BLL. BLL, serum Ca (tCa), phosphate, magnesium (Mg), 25-hydroxy-Vitamin D, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), urinary calcium (uCa) and urinary deoxypyridinoline (uDPD) were determined using AAS, HPLC and ELISA as appropriate. Bone-specific ALP (B-ALP) and ionized calcium (iCa) were calculated using standard formulae. Data analyses involved Student’s t-test, Pearson correlation and multivariate regression analysis. p 0.05). BLL had significant positive correlation with uCa (r=0.176, p=0.002) (p 0.05). BLL could be accounted for by uCa by applying the equation, BLL=0.329+0.324uCa.
Conclusions Urinary calcium could be a promising predictive biomarker for early recognition of significant environmental lead exposure in children.
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Affiliations
- Department of Chemical Pathology, BenCarson School of Medicine, Babcock University, Ilishan Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria
- Department of Chemical Pathology, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
- Department of Paediatrics, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
- Department of Family Medicine and Psychiatry, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
- Department of Public Health, School of Public and Allied Health, Babcock University, Niger
- Department of Special Education, Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan, Nigeria