Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 1, 2026
Quantitating Iron Transport Across the Mouse Placenta In Vivo Using Nonradioactive Iron Isotopes
Published on: May 10, 2022
Heavy Metals Can either Aid or Oppose the Protective Function of the Placental Barrier
Enas R Abdel Hameed1, Manal Abdelkader Shehata1, Hisham Waheed1
1Child Health Department, Medical Research Division, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt.
Background:
In developing countries, toxic heavy metals are a threatening catastrophe to human health, particularly in the vulnerable group of pregnant mothers and their fetuses. Fortunately, the placenta can be a protective barrier to the fetuses.
Aim:
To explore the relationship between serum lead, cadmium and arsenic levels in pregnant mothers and their newborns, to address the placental barrier in this situation.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 pregnant mothers at the time of labour and their newborns. Serum cadmium, lead, and arsenic levels were measured using the Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry.
Results:
All the studied heavy metals concentrations showed a significant elevation in the maternal blood relative to the cord blood. There was a significant association between the maternal lead and both fetal lead and arsenic. Meanwhile, a negative but insignificant correlation was recorded between the maternal cadmium and each of the fetal cadmium, lead, and arsenic.
Conclusion:
The study findings indicated a weak relation between maternal and fetal blood heavy metals, except for the influence of maternal lead, so it can be assumed that the placental barriers are partially protective against those toxic pollutants, putting into consideration the influence of their different natures.
More Related Videos
08:08Determination of the Transport Rate of Xenobiotics and Nanomaterials Across the Placenta using the ex vivo Human Placental Perfusion Model
Published on: June 18, 2013
05:31Author Spotlight: Modeling an Aspect of Preeclampsia in Female Mice Using Hypoxic Human Placenta-Derived Small Extracellular Vesicles
Published on: January 26, 2024
Related Concept Videos
00:57The Periodic Table and Organismal Elements
01:27The Periodic Table and Organismal Elements
Periodic Table Provides Information...
01:25Physiological Barriers
The blood endothelial barrier is the most porous of these. It allows all small ionized, un-ionized, and lipophilic molecules to pass through the endothelial lining into the interstitial space...
01:23Factors Affecting Drug Distribution: Physiological Barriers
The capillary endothelial barrier allows only smaller molecules below 600 Da (Daltons) to pass through. It also restricts drugs like heparin that are bound to blood components, limiting their movement within the bloodstream.
The...
01:36Types of Toxins
Air pollutants, primarily gases, pose significant threats to respiratory health, leading to conditions like hypoxia, lung cancer, and in extreme cases, death.
Environmental pollutants like...
01:07Teratogenicity