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Comparison of Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, and Folic Acid Blood Levels in Plumbism Patients and Controls in Eastern Iran

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A Correction to this article was published on 21 May 2020

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the blood levels of folic acid, vitamin B12, and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) in patients with lead poisoning compared with control subjects in Eastern Iran. This analytical case-control study was conducted on 40 lead-poisoned patients who were referred to Imam Reza Hospital in Birjand from 2018 to 2019. Blood samples were collected from an additional 40 individuals without lead poisoning as a control group. The results indicated that the mean vitamin B12, vitamin D, and folic acid levels for the case group were 356.5 ± 200.1 pg/ml, 24.38 ± 9.5 ng/ml, and 7.4 ± 3.7 ng/ml, respectively. Mean folic acid level in the case group was significantly lower than control group (7.4 ng/ml vs. 12.70 pg/ml, P = 0.001), whereas the mean of the vitamin D levels at the case group was significantly higher than that of the control group (24.3 ng/ml vs. 20.1 ng/ml, P = 0.03). Moreover, mean vitamin B12 levels were significantly lower in the case group in comparison with the control group (356.5 pg/ml vs. 500.8 pg/ml) (P < 0.001). In the control group, 3 patients had folic acid below normal level (< 6 ng/mL) while 12 cases had folic acid below normal (P < 0.05). Also, none of the control group had low vitamin B12 concentrations (< 180 pg/ml), while 7 cases had vitamin b12 below normal (P < 0.05). Our results suggest that lead may induce folate and vitamin B12 dysregulation. Although we found that vitamin D levels were insufficient in both case and control groups, they were significantly higher in the case group. The interpretation of this result is unclear given inconsistent literature reports on this relationship.

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Data Availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current research are available from the corresponding author on request.

Change history

  • 21 May 2020

    The original version of this article unfortunately contained mistakes.

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Acknowledgments

This work was part of the second author’s thesis with funding from the Birjand University of Medical Sciences (Grant number: 455509). Moreover, we would like to acknowledge the assistance of the Medical Toxicology and Drug Abuse Research Center (MTDRC) at the Birjand University of Medical Sciences. In addition, our sincere appreciation goes to all of the patients who participated in this project.

Funding

This study was supported by the Birjand University of Medical Sciences (Grant number: 455509).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Toxicology and Drug Abuse Research Center (MTDRC), Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran

    Omid Mehrpour, Samaneh Nakhaee, Alireza Amirabadi & Gholamreza Anaei-sarab

  2. Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Safety, Denver Health & Hospital Authority, Denver, CO, USA

    Omid Mehrpour

  3. Student Research Committee, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran

    Marzieh Modi

  4. Substance Abuse Prevention Research Center, Health Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran

    Borhan Mansouri

  5. Biostatistics Department, Faculty of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Nemam Ali Azadi

  6. Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Farshad M. Shirazi

  7. Wake Forest School of Medicine Addiction Medicine Program, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Stephanie T. Weiss

Authors
  1. Omid Mehrpour
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  2. Marzieh Modi
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  4. Nemam Ali Azadi
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  6. Alireza Amirabadi
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Contributions

OM and BM were the overall coordinators. OM, BM, MM, AA, GA, FS, SN, and SW contributed to the design of the study, interpretation of the results, and drafting of the manuscript. MM conducted the data collection. AA and NA did the data analysis. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Borhan Mansouri.

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Competing Interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

This study was approved by the Research and ethics committee of Birjand University of Medical Sciences (IR.BUMS.REC.1397.323), and relevant descriptions were provided with respect to the aims of the research.

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Mehrpour, O., Modi, M., Mansouri, B. et al. Comparison of Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, and Folic Acid Blood Levels in Plumbism Patients and Controls in Eastern Iran. Biol Trace Elem Res 199, 9–17 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-020-02119-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-020-02119-6

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