Mapa metabólico da intoxicação por chumbo

Abstract

Since ancient times, lead (Pb) has been used by mankind because of its physicochemical properties, such as malleability, ductility, corrosion resistance, low melting point and low electrical conductivity. However, in addition to its economic importance, lead is an important human health issue since it causes intoxication. Many effects of lead intoxication have been reported in the literature, affecting the organism as a whole and causing symptoms in cardiovascular, immune, skeletal, reproductive, hematological, renal, gastrointestinal and nervous systems. Although there is evidence on how lead affects cellular homeostasis, the description of the metabolic pathways affected in lead poisoning is not fully established. To elucidate the effects of lead poisoning, the aim of this study is to propose pathways of lead interactions with cell components, through manual curation of information present in literature and public repositories. After a search in literature, it was found a total of twenty-three proteins, including glutathione, which can directly interact with lead and are related to the cellular basis of intoxication. This knowledge taken together with the information present in pathways repositories allowed the integration of the current information in a map of lead poisoning. It was observed that lead acts in a systemic way, specially interfering with the normal function of metalloproteins which rely on essential metals to the organism, such as calcium and zinc.