Correlation Between Salivary and Blood Nickel Concentration in Smokers and Nonsmokers

Daniel, Filipe Ivan*¹, Feller, Georgia Voltolini², Krieger¹, Heloisa Aparecida de Carvalho², Grando¹, Liliane Janete¹,Dos Santos, Claudia Regina¹

Received: September 06, 2018;   Published: September 14, 2018

DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2018.09.001741

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Abstract

Nickel is a naturally occurring heavy metal in the environment, and one of the harmful compounds found in tobacco, as it accumulates in the plant Nicotina tabacum. It is also considered a carcinogen in humans. Its concentrations in the body can undergo many variations and its determination in body fluids can be an important way to monitor exposure to this carcinogen. This paper aimed to analyze salivary and blood nickel concentrations in smokers and nonsmokers. Salivary/blood concentrations of 23 individuals were determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy. We found higher nickel salivary concentration in non-smokers (8.28 μg.L-1 versus 4.23μg.L-1), While blood concentration was greater in smokers (2.22μg.L-1 versus 1.02μg.L-1) (p<0.05, Wilcoxon signed-rank test).Salivary concentration was 3.5 times higher in saliva than in blood, with no statistical correlation between the samples. Although saliva is considered a good biological matrix, easy to collect/store, allowing the detection of nickel with the same technique already used for blood, it was not a suitable substrate for estimating the concentration of nickel in the blood. In addition, unexpectedly, greater amounts of nickel were found in the saliva of nonsmoking individuals possibly resulting from nickel sources other than smoking.

Keywords: Nickel; Tobacco; Saliva; Cancer

Abbreviations: Ni: Nickel; As: Arsenic; Cd: Cadmium; Cr: Chromium; UFSC: University Hospital of Federal University of Santa Catarina; LOD: The limit of detection; LOQ: The Limit of Quantitation; RSD: Relative Standard Deviation

Abstract | Introduction | Materials and methods | Results | Discussion | Conclusion | Acknowledgement | Funding | References |