Environmental factors and apoptotic indices in patients with intrauterine growth retardation: A nested case-control study

- We examined the effect of lead, cadmium and arsenic toxicity as risk factors of IUGR.
- We determined the role of increased apoptosis in the pathogenesis of IUGR.
- There is an alarming high level of lead, cadmium and arsenic toxicity in Egypt.
- We found that high level of heavy metals was positively correlated to IUGR.

BackgroundEgypt has one of the highest incidences of IUGR. The current study investigates the effect of heavy metals toxicity as risk factors of IUGR and determines the possible role of increased apoptosis in their pathogenesis.MethodsThis study was conducted in Assiut, Egypt, included 60 women diagnosed to have IUGR. We measured lead and cadmium levels in blood besides arsenic and cadmium levels in urine. Neonatal scalp hair sample were analyzed for arsenic content. Quantitative determination of human placental Bcl-2 and caspase-3 were performed.ResultsThere are significantly higher levels of heavy metals and caspase-3 and lower levels of placental Bcl-2 in the IUGR group. The levels of heavy metals were positively correlated with caspase-3 while negatively correlated (except cadmium) with Bcl-2 levels.ConclusionsThere is an alarming high level of heavy metals toxicity in Egypt that was positively correlated to IUGR. Increased placental apoptosis may be one of the possible mechanisms behind the effect.