ArticleJournal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England)2021
The impact of chronic co-exposure to different heavy metals on small fibers of peripheral nerves. A study of metal industry workers.
Article in Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of Skin Types and Microenvironment of Dermal Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Derivatives and Heavy Metals.Environment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Article
- Corneal confocal microscopy: a novel biomarker of small fibre neuropathy in SLE.Lupus science & medicine · 2025Article
- Arsenic-Induced Polyneuropathy Mimicking Guillain-Barré Syndrome: A Conundrum.Clinical case reports · 2025Article
- Medical Surveillance of Occupational Lead Exposure Using the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory and Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance Program: Illinois, 2016-2023.American journal of industrial medicine · 2025Article
- Opiorphin and neuropathic pain: a promising treatment approach?Inflammopharmacology · 2025Review
- Neurological impact of sub-chronic lead acetate exposure on pain perception in mice.Toxicology reports · 2025Article
- Heavy metal biomarkers and their impact on hearing loss risk: a machine learning framework analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Multi-Omics Assessment of Puff Volume-Mediated Salivary Biomarkers of Metal Exposure and Oxidative Injury Associated with Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems.Environmental health perspectives · 2025Article
- Small Fiber Neuropathy in Veterans With Gulf War Illness.Federal practitioner : for the health care professionals of the VA, DoD, and PHS · 2024Article
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- Urinary metal profiles in mother-offspring pairs and their association with early dysglycemia in the International Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome Follow Up Study (HAPO-FUS).Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2023Article
- The Relationship between Blood Lead Level and Chronic Pain in US Adults: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study.Pain and therapy · 2023Article
- Biochemical and Hematological Markers in Workers with Chronical Exposure to Lead and Cadmium in Colombia.Toxics · 2022Article
- Zinc Coordination Compounds with Benzimidazole Derivatives: Synthesis, Structure, Antimicrobial Activity and Potential Anticancer Application.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Update on Toxic Neuropathies.Current treatment options in neurology · 2022Article
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- Epidemiological characteristics of occupational chemical poisonings in Zhejiang, China from 2006 to 2020: A descriptive analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Article
- Detailed Analysis of Neurological Symptoms and Sensory Disturbances Due to Chronic Arsenic Exposure in Toroku, Japan.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundChronic exposure to heavy metals affects various organs, among them the brain and peripheral nerves. Polyneuropathy is mainly length-dependent with predominantly sensory symptoms. There have been few studies on small fiber neuropathy due to heavy metal intoxication.
methodsWe investigated 41 metal industry workers, mean age 51.3 ± 10.5 years, with at least 5 years' professional exposure to heavy metals, and 36 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. We performed neurological examinations, and assessed blood levels of cadmium, lead, and zinc protoporphyrin, urine levels of arsenic, standard, sensory and motor electrophysiological tests in the ulnar and peroneal nerves, sympathetic skin responses from the palm and foot, and quantitative sensation testing from dermatomes C8 and S1. DISCUSSION: The results of standard conduction tests of all nerves significantly differed between groups. The latency of sympathetic skin responses achieved from the foot was also statistically significantly prolonged in the study group. Significant differences were seen in both C8 and S1 regions for temperature and pain thresholds, and for vibratory threshold only in the S1 region, while the dispersions of low and high temperatures were important exclusively in the C8 region.
conclusionsWe can conclude that co-exposure to many heavy metals results in explicit impairment of peripheral nerves. The lesion is more pronounced within small fibers and is predominantly connected with greater impairment of temperature-dependent pain thresholds. The evaluation of small fiber function should be considered in the early diagnosis of toxic polyneuropathy or in low-dose exposure to heavy metals.
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