Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0085584 (encephalopathy)
 18,178 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Despite the widespread use of hand-crafted lead-glazed pottery by the Arab population, no cases of lead intoxication have previously been attributed to these ceramics. Three Arab families were found that used to eat from such earthenware utensils and were afflicted with plumbism. Plumbism was diagnosed by the determination of blood and urine lead levels and in two of the families by the decrease of red cell delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase activity. The propositus of the first family was the 23-year-old mother who had abdominal pains and hematuria. Lead intoxication was established and therapy with calcium EDTA institutes. She recovered. Her one-year-old daughter died in another hospital during a similar episode. Family studies revealed subclinical plumbism in her remaining three sons. In another family, a 54-year-old-man had abdominal pains and had a lead line on the gingival margins. Subsequent testing of the surfaces of the earthenware containers from which these families used to eat disclosed excessive amounts of lead. In the third family, eight members had plumbism, four of them with encephalopathy associated with motor palsy. One case was icteric. They also used to eat from primitive pottery with a lead glaze.
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PMID:Lead poisoning from ceramics in the Arab population. 657 33

Oxidative stress plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of neurological disorders. Free radical generation appears to be the mode of lead toxicity. We evaluated the effects of blood lead levels on oxidative stress parameters in children suffering from neurological disorders. Thirty children (aged 3-12 years) with neurological disorders (cerebral palsy [n = 12], seizures [n = 11], and encephalopathy [n = 7]) were recruited in the study group. Sixty healthy children (aged 3-12 years) from similar socio-economic environments and not suffering from any chronic disease were taken as the controls. Blood lead levels and oxidant/antioxidant status were determined. Mean blood lead level was significantly higher while delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (delta-ALAD) activity, a biomarker for lead exposure, was significantly lower in the study group as compared to the control group (P < 0.05 for each). Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, an end-product of lipid peroxidation, were significantly higher while the antioxidant glutathione (GSH) levels were significantly lower in the study group as compared to the control group (P < 0.05 for each). Activities of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were significantly higher in the study group than those of the control group (P < 0.05 for each). There were significant negative correlations of blood lead levels with delta-ALAD (r = -0.35; P < 0.05) and GSH (r = -0.31; P < 0.05), and positive correlations with MDA (r = 0.37; P < 0.05), SOD (r = 0.53; P < 0.05), and CAT (r = 0.31; P < 0.05). In turn, delta-ALAD had significant negative correlations with MDA (r = -0.29; P < 0.05), SOD (r = -0.28; P < 0.05) and CAT (r = -0.34; P < 0.05), but positive correlation with GSH (r = 0.32; P < 0.05). Although a causal pathway can not be determined from the present study, our findings indicate lead-induced oxidative stress in blood of children with neurological disorders. Lead-induced oxidative stress as an underlying mechanism for neurological diseases in children warranted further investigation.
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PMID:Oxidative stress and neurological disorders in relation to blood lead levels in children. 1854 29