Assessment of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in workers of lead-acid batteries recycling plant

Introduction. Lead is one of the proven risk factors for developing cardiovascular diseases, which is determined by its effect on vascular tone, lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, as well as the activity of the inflammatory process, and therefore monitoring of metabolic parameters is an important component of preventive measures for workers in contact with lead and its compounds.

The study aims to analyze changes in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in employees of a lead-acid battery processing plant to select informative markers for assessing cardiovascular risk.

Materials and methods. The main group consisted of 62 men working at a lead-acid battery recycling plant with 8 (4; 10) years of experience. The control group consisted of 30 men who worked outside of contact with harmful industrial factors. The laboratory examination included the determination of blood lead levels, ALA in urine, carbohydrate (glucose, insulin) and lipid (cholesterol (HC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, apolipoproteins A1 and B, lipoprotein (a)) metabolism. Non-HDL cholesterol, atherogenicity index (IA), apo B/apo A1, TG/HDL cholesterol, metabolic index (MI), HOMA-IR were calculated.

Results. Compared with the control group, individuals in the main group showed lower levels of HDL cholesterol, apo A1, higher levels of insulin, HOMA-IR, and MI. Correlations with work experience were revealed in the absence of age dependence for HDL cholesterol (r=–0.35, p=0.006), IA (r=0.258, p=0.043), apo A1 (r=–0.313, p=0.013), apo B/apo A1 (r=0.287, p=0.024), MI (r=0.262, p=0.04). It has been shown that at least 10 years of service, the levels of HDL cholesterol, apo A1 are lower, and the levels of IA, apo B/apo A1, TG/HDL-C, MI are higher compared with employees with less experience. There is an average degree of relationship between HOMA-IR and indirect markers of insulin resistance of TG/HDL cholesterol (r=0.525, p<0.001) and MI (r=0.568, p<0.001).

Limitations. The study is limited to a sample of surveyed employees of a single lead-acid battery recycling facility.

Conclusion. The influence of exposure to harmful production factors of a lead-acid battery processing plant on the development of lipid and carbohydrate metabolism disorders is shown, which determines the importance of studying additional laboratory parameters (HDL cholesterol, triglycerides) in employees of these enterprises to objectify the assessment of metabolic processes.

Ethics. The study was conducted in compliance with Ethical standards for conducting medical research involving humans in accordance with the requirements of the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association. The study was approved by the conclusion of the local Ethics Committee of Izmerov Research Institute of Occupational Health (protocol of the meeting of the Ethics Committee No. 5 dated 08/02/2023).

Contributions:
Kuzmina L.P. — research concept and design, editing;
Khotuleva A.G. — research concept and design, collection and processing of material, laboratory research, writing, editing;
Kolyaskina M.M. — conducting laboratory research, collecting and processing material, writing text;
Bezrukavnikova L.M. — concept and design of research, editing;
Kapralova O.A. — conducting laboratory tests.

Funding. The study had no funding.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: 06.03.2025 / Accepted: 24.03.2025 / Published: 07.04.2025

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