Abstract:
In trace amounts, some heavy metals are essential for optimum health, while exposure to others, which are
non-essential, presents the potential hazard of acute or chronic organ toxicity. Cadmium, mercury, lead, vanadium,
platinum and palladium are commonly encountered, non-essential heavy metals which mediate their toxic activities
by various mechanisms. All have the potential to interact with extracellular and intracellular protein sulfhydryls,
rendering them not only potentially allergenic, but also predisposing to oxidative stress, while displacement of
essential elements from their protein carriers may result in deficiency disorders. In addition, several of these metals,
especially cadmium, palladium, platinum, and vanadium interact pro-oxidatively with the phagocytic cells of the
innate immune system, potentiating the reactivity and toxicity of phagocyte-derived reactive oxygen species. This
review is focused on the pro-oxidative/pro-inflammatory interactions of non-essential heavy metals with the cells of
the innate immune system, a somewhat under-appreciated mechanism of metal induced toxicity.
Description:
This article was originally published in a special issue, Heavy Metal Toxicity
handled by Editor(s). Dr. Noreen Khan-Mayberry, National Aeronautics &
Space Administration at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA
