Lead poisoning influences TCR-related gene expression patterns in peripheral blood T-lymphocytes of exposed workers

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of the study control, PE (and PT) groups.

	Control (n = 23)	PE (same as PT) (n = 17)
Age	37.2 ± 15.2	39.7 ± 6.5
Male	15	11
Female	8	6

Table 2. Clinical data for Pb-exposed workers before and after chelation.

				Before chelation				After final chelation
Case #	Gender	Age	Exposure duration (years)	ZPP (μmol/L)	ALA (μmol/L)	BPb (μmol/L)	UPb (μmol/L)	BPb (μmol/L)	UPb (μmol/L)	Course of chelation
1	Female	41	6.50	4.25	4.96	4.16	0.79	2.34	0.32	2
2	Male	42	8.25	1.46	2.31	4.77	0.41	3.99	0.21	2
3	Male	32	4.67	3.14	1.03	8.68	0.14	4.11	0.07	2
4	Male	38	5.83	3.00	1.58	7.43	0.61	3.44	0.25	3
5	Female	30	3.00	5.44	0.88	3.78	0.47	3.09	0.11	2
6	Female	44	5.58	7.03	0.69	3.77	0.46	2.64	0.11	2
7	Female	39	4.83	3.36	1.05	4.28	0.39	3.51	0.25	2
8	Male	45	3.33	6.81	6.73	4.70	0.53	2.45	0.26	4
9	Male	42	8.83	4.41	5.50	5.33	0.53	3.55	0.31	2
10	Male	27	3.83	6.92	0.65	4.35	0.49	2.20	0.23	2
11	Male	46	5.17	3.70	0.52	5.83	0.32	2.87	0.18	2
12	Male	43	2.75	7.75	9.18	3.54	0.76	2.57	0.32	3
13	Male	50	8.08	1.68	1.47	6.76	0.70	3.03	0.44	2
14	Male	48	12.08	2.06	0.04	7.81	0.32	4.06	0.27	3
15	Male	40	4.42	2.17	3.90	4.55	0.58	3.17	0.28	5
16	Female	35	3.92	0.99	0.26	2.95	0.24	1.45	0.16	2
17	Male	33	9.00	5.51	2.45	3.43	0.46	0.20	0.18	2

Figure 1. Level of lead in blood and urine from Pb-exposed workers. Values shown are from each subject (in terms of μmol/L) before (PE) and after (PT) chelation therapy.

Figure 2. Expression levels of TCRζ, F_cɛRIγ, and Elf-1. Levels (%) of (A) TCRζ, (B) F_cɛRIγ, and (C) Elf-1 in PMBC recovered from workers before (PE) and after (PT) chelation therapy or from healthy controls (HC).

Table 3. Relative TCRζ expression level (%) in PE/PT PBMC as a function of number of therapy rounds.

Number of courses of chelation therapy	PE	PT
2 (n = 12)	1.2 ± 0.5	1.4 ± 1.0
3 (n = 3)	0.6 ± 0.6*	0.9 ± 0.2
4 (n = 1)	0.7	0.9
5 (n = 1)	0.8	2.4

*p = 0.05 versus control group level.

Table 4. Relative Elf-1 expression level (%) in PE/PT PBMC as a function of number of therapy rounds.

Number of courses of chelation therapy	PE	PT
2 (n = 12)	3.9 ± 3.1*	3.6 ± 2.2*
3 (n = 3)	3.2 ± 1.4*	2.7 ± 1.6*
4 (n = 1)	4.5	3.3
5 (n = 1)	9.6	6.9

*p ≤ 0.05 versus control group level.

Table 5. Relative F_cɛRIγ expression level (%) in PE/PT PBMC as a function of number of therapy rounds.

Number of courses of chelation therapy	PE	PT
2 (n = 12)	1.6 ± 1.4*	1.2 ± 1.3*
3 (n = 3)	0.9 ± 0.6*	2.3 ± 1.9*
4 (n = 1)	3.5	0.6
5 (n = 1)	3.9	1.8

*p ≤ 0.05 versus control group level.

Figure 3. Correlation analyses for TCRζ and F_cɛRIγ expression levels. (A) HC, (B) PE, and (C) PT groups. A significant negative correlation was found for the HC group and a non-significant negative correlation was found for the PE group. There was no correlation for the PT group.

Figure 4. Correlation analyses for TCRζ and Elf-1 expression levels. (A) HC, (B) PE, and (C) PT groups. A significant positive correlation was found in the HC group; non-significant positive correlations were found for the PE and PT groups.