Understanding Uranium Toxicity

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

Uranium is a naturally occurring radioactive heavy metal. It is a component of the earth’s crust and is widely present in natural environments, such as soil and water, as well as in foods. The daily intake of uranium is approximately 1 μg per person. This value is one-fourth and one-twentieth of those of toxic heavy metals, such as mercury and cadmium, respectively. The uranium levels in surface and groundwater are generally as low as the sub ppb. However, it is known that the chronic ingestion of uranium at higher levels via contaminated groundwater results in an induction of renal damage. Moreover, uranium is used as a fuel in nuclear power plants. The recent nuclear accident in Japan, following the earthquake and tsunami in 2011, has led to increasing public concern regarding the health effects of uranium.

This Topic, “Understanding Uranium Toxicity”, will cover the toxicological studies of uranium, from the fundamental to applied sciences, including analytical methodology, biochemistry, molecular biology, animal studies, in vitro assays, radiation sciences, environmental sciences, and epidemiological studies. Review articles are also welcome.

We hope this Topic will set the stage for transdisciplinary toxicology for uranium.

Dr. Shino Homma-Takeda
Dr. Sarata Kumar Sahoo
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Minerals minerals	2.2	4.1	2011	18 Days	CHF 2400
Life life	3.2	4.3	2011	17.8 Days	CHF 2600
Toxics toxics	3.9	4.5	2013	18.3 Days	CHF 2600

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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11 pages, 9131 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

VCAM-1 Is Upregulated in Uranium Miners Compared to Other Miners

by Nour A. Ass’ad, Xin Shore, Orrin Myers, Alexandra R. Camacho, Quiteria Jacquez, Charles Pollard, Linda S. Cook, Shuguang Leng, Kimberly Page, Akshay Sood and Katherine E. Zychowski

Life 2021, 11(11), 1223; https://doi.org/10.3390/life11111223 - 11 Nov 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1957

Abstract

The United States has a rich history of mining including uranium (U)-mining, coal mining, and other metal mining. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are largely understudied in miners and recent literature suggests that when compared to non-U miners, U-miners are more likely to report CVD. [...] Read more.

The United States has a rich history of mining including uranium (U)-mining, coal mining, and other metal mining. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are largely understudied in miners and recent literature suggests that when compared to non-U miners, U-miners are more likely to report CVD. However, the molecular basis for this phenomenon is currently unknown. In this pilot study, a New Mexico (NM)-based occupational cohort of current and former miners (n = 44) were recruited via a mobile screening clinic for miners. Serum- and endothelial-based endpoints were used to assess circulating inflammatory potential relevant to CVD. Non-U miners reported significantly fewer pack years of smoking than U-miners. Circulating biomarkers of interest revealed that U-miners had significantly greater serum amyloid A (SAA), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1, ng/mL), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1, ng/mL), and VCAM-1 mRNA expression, as determined by the serum cumulative inflammatory potential (SCIP) assay, an endothelial-based assay. Even after adjusting for various covariates, including age, multivariable analysis determined that U-miners had significantly upregulated VCAM-1 mRNA. In conclusion, VCAM-1 may be an important biomarker and possible contributor of CVD in U-miners. Further research to explore this mechanism may be warranted. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Understanding Uranium Toxicity)

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