Evaluation of urinary trace element levels in patients with opioid use disorder undergoing methadone treatment in western Iran.

The monitoring of essential and toxic elements in patients with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) undergoing methadone treatment (MT) is important, and there is limited previous research on the urinary levels of these elements in MT patients. Therefore, the present study aimed to analyze certain elements in the context of methadone treatment compared to a healthy group. In this study, patients with opioid use disorder undergoing MT (n = 67) were compared with a healthy group of companions (n = 62) in terms of urinary concentrations of some essential elements (selenium (Se), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), calcium (Ca)) and toxic elements (lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), and chromium (Cr)). Urine samples were prepared using the acid digestion method with a mixture of nitric acid and perchloric acid and assessed using the ICP-MS method. Our results showed that the two groups had no significant differences in terms of gender, education level, occupation, and smoking status. Urinary concentrations of Se, Cu, and Fe levels were significantly lower in the MT group compared to the healthy subjects. However, the concentrations of Pb, Cd, As, Mn, Cr, and Ca in the MT group were higher than in the healthy group (p < 0.05). No significant difference was established between the levels of Zn in the two groups (p = 0.232). The results of regression analysis revealed that the differences between the concentration levels of all metals (except Zn) between two groups were still remained significant after adjusting for all variables (p < 0.05). The data obtained in the current study showed lower urinary concentrations of some essential elements and higher levels of some toxic elements in the MT group compared to the healthy subjects. These findings should be incorporated into harm-reduction interventions.

Comparison of Thyroid Function in Lead-Poisoned Patients and Healthy Individuals in Eastern Iran.

Lead (Pb) is a prevalent environmental toxic metal that may harmfully affect the function of the thyroid gland. Our information about the effects of lead on thyroid function in lead poisoning is limited. The present study aimed to evaluate thyroid function in lead-poisoned patients compared with the healthy group. In this study, two groups of lead poisoning subjects (lead concentrations ≥ 25 µg/dL) (n = 56) (HBLC group) and randomly selected age and gender-matched healthy individuals with lower blood lead concentrations (BLC < 10 µg/dL) (n = 58) (LBLC group) were included. Thyroid function tests, including thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) concentration, were measured for each patient in both groups (for the HBLC group, it was taken on admission). The linear regression model was used to investigate the effects of lead poisoning on thyroid function tests. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Our study showed no significant difference between the two groups in terms of age and gender. The mean concentration of T3 and TSH in the HBLC group was significantly lower than the LBLC group, but the mean levels of T4 were significantly higher in the HBLC group (p < 0.05). Based on the linear regression model results, the T3 and TSH levels in the LBLC group were significantly higher by 13.86 and 0.43 units than the HBLC group, respectively. The current study results showed that lead poisoning affects thyroid function, reduces TSH, and increases T4.

Comparison of Blood Lead Concentrations in Mothers of Children with Congenital Heart Disease and Mothers of Healthy Children.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most prevalent congenital defect that causes several problems for patients and their families and medical specialists. It is important to investigate CHD risk factors due to their significantly destructive load on society. This study aims to determine the association between maternal lead exposure and conceiving a child with CHD. This case-control study was performed on a total of 246 mothers in the pediatric clinic of Vali-e-Asr Hospital in Birjand, Iran. One hundred forty-six mothers with CHD children were defined as the case group, and 100 age-matched mothers with healthy children were considered the control group. All the mothers were between 20 and 40 years old, and their children were under the age of 6 months. Demographic data was collected from mothers using a well-designed questionnaire. In addition, all mothers were referred to the laboratory for measuring blood lead concentrations. The mean blood lead concentration (BLC) of mothers in the group of children with heart problems was 4.11 ± 10.02 with a median of 2.50 µg/dL and in the control group was 2.66 ± 2.06 with a median of 2.30 µg/dL. The Mann-Whitney test results showed that mothers' lead concentration in the group of children with heart problems was significantly higher than the control group (z = 2.13, p = 0.03). The chi-square test results showed that lead concentrations in the two groups were significantly different from each other (χ2 = 9.11, p = 0.01). The results of our study showed that mothers of children with CHD had higher blood concentrations than mothers of healthy children.