Heavy metals are commonly released into the environment through industrial processes such as mining and refining. The rapid industrialization that occurred in South Korea during the 1960s and 1970s contributed significantly to the economy of the country; however, the associated mining and refining led to considerable environmental pollution, and although mining is now in decline in South Korea, the detrimental effects on residents inhabiting the surrounding areas remain. The bioaccumulation of toxic heavy metals leads to metabolic alterations in human homeostasis, with disruptions in this balance leading to various health issues. This study used metabolomics to explore metabolomic alterations in the plasma samples of residents living in mining and refining areas. The results showed significant increases in metabolites involved in glycolysis and the surrounding metabolic pathways, such as glucose-6-phosphate, phosphoenolpyruvate, lactate, and inosine monophosphate, in those inhabiting polluted areas. An investigation of the associations between metabolites and blood clinical parameters through meet-in-the-middle analysis indicated that female residents were more affected by heavy metal exposure, resulting in more metabolomic alterations. For women, inhabiting the abandoned mine area, metabolites in the glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathways, such as ribose-5-phosphate and 3-phosphoglycerate, have shown a negative correlation with albumin and calcium. Finally, Mendelian randomization(MR) was used to determine the causal effects of these heavy metal exposure-related metabolites on heavy metal exposure-related clinical parameters. Metabolite biomarkers could provide insights into altered metabolic pathways related to exposure to toxic heavy metals and improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the health effects of toxic heavy metal exposure.

中文翻译：

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环境污染地区居民血浆代谢物与重金属暴露的关系


重金属通常通过采矿和精炼等工业过程释放到环境中。 20世纪60年代和1970年代韩国的快速工业化对该国经济做出了巨大贡献；然而，相关的采矿和提炼导致了相当大的环境污染，尽管韩国的采矿业现在正在减少，但对周边地区居民的不利影响仍然存在。有毒重金属的生物累积会导致人体体内平衡的代谢改变，这种平衡的破坏会导致各种健康问题。这项研究使用代谢组学来探索居住在采矿和炼油地区的居民血浆样本的代谢组变化。结果显示，在污染地区，参与糖酵解和周围代谢途径的代谢物显着增加，例如葡萄糖-6-磷酸、磷酸烯醇丙酮酸、乳酸和肌苷单磷酸。通过中间相遇分析对代谢物与血液临床参数之间的关联进行的调查表明，女性居民更容易受到重金属暴露的影响，从而导致更多的代谢组学改变。对于居住在废弃矿区的女性来说，糖酵解和磷酸戊糖途径中的代谢物，如5-磷酸核糖和3-磷酸甘油酸，与白蛋白和钙呈负相关。最后，采用孟德尔随机化（MR）来确定这些重金属暴露相关代谢物对重金属暴露相关临床参数的因果影响。 代谢生物标志物可以深入了解与有毒重金属暴露相关的代谢途径的改变，并提高我们对有毒重金属暴露对健康影响的分子机制的理解。