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Mercury Exposure and Heart Diseases

Author

Listed:
  • Giuseppe Genchi

    (Dipartimento di Farmacia e Scienze della Salute e della Nutrizione, Università della Calabria, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (Cosenza), Italy)

  • Maria Stefania Sinicropi

    (Dipartimento di Farmacia e Scienze della Salute e della Nutrizione, Università della Calabria, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (Cosenza), Italy)

  • Alessia Carocci

    (Dipartimento di Farmacia-Scienze del Farmaco, Università degli Studi di Bari “A. Moro”, 70125 Bari, Italy)

  • Graziantonio Lauria

    (Dipartimento di Farmacia e Scienze della Salute e della Nutrizione, Università della Calabria, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (Cosenza), Italy)

  • Alessia Catalano

    (Dipartimento di Farmacia-Scienze del Farmaco, Università degli Studi di Bari “A. Moro”, 70125 Bari, Italy)

Abstract

Environmental contamination has exposed humans to various metal agents, including mercury. It has been determined that mercury is not only harmful to the health of vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and children, but is also toxic to ordinary adults in various ways. For many years, mercury was used in a wide variety of human activities. Nowadays, the exposure to this metal from both natural and artificial sources is significantly increasing. Recent studies suggest that chronic exposure, even to low concentration levels of mercury, can cause cardiovascular, reproductive, and developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, immunotoxicity, and carcinogenicity. Possible biological effects of mercury, including the relationship between mercury toxicity and diseases of the cardiovascular system, such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, and myocardial infarction, are being studied. As heart rhythm and function are under autonomic nervous system control, it has been hypothesized that the neurotoxic effects of mercury might also impact cardiac autonomic function. Mercury exposure could have a long-lasting effect on cardiac parasympathetic activity and some evidence has shown that mercury exposure might affect heart rate variability, particularly early exposures in children. The mechanism by which mercury produces toxic effects on the cardiovascular system is not fully elucidated, but this mechanism is believed to involve an increase in oxidative stress. The exposure to mercury increases the production of free radicals, potentially because of the role of mercury in the Fenton reaction and a reduction in the activity of antioxidant enzymes, such as glutathione peroxidase. In this review we report an overview on the toxicity of mercury and focus our attention on the toxic effects on the cardiovascular system.

Suggested Citation

  • Giuseppe Genchi & Maria Stefania Sinicropi & Alessia Carocci & Graziantonio Lauria & Alessia Catalano, 2017. "Mercury Exposure and Heart Diseases," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:1:p:74-:d:87664
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David Moher & Alessandro Liberati & Jennifer Tetzlaff & Douglas G Altman & The PRISMA Group, 2009. "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-6, July.
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    1. Giuseppe Genchi & Alessia Carocci & Graziantonio Lauria & Maria Stefania Sinicropi & Alessia Catalano, 2020. "Nickel: Human Health and Environmental Toxicology," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-21, January.
    2. Zenith H. Alam & Francisco Ujueta & Ivan A. Arenas & Anne E. Nigra & Ana Navas-Acien & Gervasio A. Lamas, 2020. "Urinary Metal Levels after Repeated Edetate Disodium Infusions: Preliminary Findings," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-9, June.
    3. Amelia Geraldine Peregrina-Chávez & María Del Rayo Ramírez-Galindo & Rolando Chávez-Martínez & Cesar Anuar Delahanty-Delgado & Fernando Vazquez-Alaniz, 2018. "Full Atrioventricular Block Secondary to Acute Poisoning Mercury: A Case Report," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-9, April.
    4. Bojian Chen & Shiyuan Dong, 2022. "Mercury Contamination in Fish and Its Effects on the Health of Pregnant Women and Their Fetuses, and Guidance for Fish Consumption—A Narrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-16, November.
    5. Emanuela D. Tiodar & Cristina L. Văcar & Dorina Podar, 2021. "Phytoremediation and Microorganisms-Assisted Phytoremediation of Mercury-Contaminated Soils: Challenges and Perspectives," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-37, March.
    6. Gabriela de Paula Arrifano & Marcus Augusto-Oliveira & Amanda Lopes-Araújo & Letícia Santos-Sacramento & Barbarella Matos Macchi & José Luiz Martins do Nascimento & Maria Elena Crespo-Lopez, 2023. "Global Human Threat: The Potential Synergism between Mercury Intoxication and COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-13, February.
    7. Jin-Wook Chung & Dilaram Acharya & Jitendra Kumar Singh & Joon Sakong, 2023. "Association of Blood Mercury Level with Liver Enzymes in Korean Adults: An Analysis of 2015–2017 Korean National Environmental Health Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-13, February.
    8. Barbara Brodziak-Dopierała & Agnieszka Fischer & Martyna Chrzanowska & Bożena Ahnert, 2023. "Mercury Exposure from the Consumption of Dietary Supplements Containing Vegetable, Cod Liver, and Shark Liver Oils," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-14, January.
    9. S. M. J. Mortazavi & Ghazal Mortazavi & Maryam Paknahad, 2017. "Comment on Giuseppe Genchi et al. Mercury Exposure and Heart Diseases. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14 , 74," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-2, July.
    10. Gabriela P. F. Arrifano & Jacqueline I. Alvarez-Leite & José Rogério Souza-Monteiro & Marcus Augusto-Oliveira & Ricardo Paraense & Barbarella M. Macchi & André Pinto & Reinaldo B. Oriá & José Luiz Mar, 2018. "In the Heart of the Amazon: Noncommunicable Diseases and Apolipoprotein E4 Genotype in the Riverine Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-15, September.
    11. Giuseppe Genchi & Maria Stefania Sinicropi & Graziantonio Lauria & Alessia Carocci & Alessia Catalano, 2020. "The Effects of Cadmium Toxicity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-24, May.

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