ARSENIC AND IRON IN THE FINGER AND FOOT MUSCLE FROM BLACKFOOT DISEASEPATIENTS

Atomic absorption spectrophotometric method, for determination of arse nic and iron concentration in finger and foot muscles from Blackfoot D isease Patients(BFDPs), by amputation were developed. Thirty-four case s of BFDPs, at the most strict clinical examination and thirty cases o f Non-BFDPs(NBFDPs) from the traffic accidents. NBFDPs from the same d istrict were compared as the controls. Arsenic has been claimed to be major causative agents of Blackfoot Disease(BFD) in the south-western coast of Taiwan. We published several papers on this and presented a c onception that as with the increase in clinical stages from the zero, first, second, third and fourth the increase in the arsenic concentrat ion in blood hair and urine accompanies as the BFD progressed, althoug h at the third and fourth stages, arsenic decrease might be induced by the antagonistic effect of selenium, zinc and iron. For the purpose t o prove this, the study was carried out to check whether at the fourth stage, the concentration of arsenic in BFDPs finger and foot muscles by amputation are higher than that of NBFDPs and whether it is also th e case with the blood of BFDPs. The arsenic in muscles of finger and f oot of BFDPs by amputation was more than 10 times higher than the NBFD Ps at the rate of 0.80+/-0.57 mu g/g > 0.07+/-0.05 mu g/g and they wer e also about 8 times higher than the blood of BFDPs at the fourth clin ical stages at the rate of 0.80+/-0.57 mu g/g > 0.091+/-0.052 mu g/ml. Both of them had significantly difference with P<0.01. These evidence s directly indicated that arsenic might be a major causative agent of BFD. The iron in muscles of finger and foot of BFDPs by amputation wer e also about 2 times higher than that of NBFDPs at the rate of 39.63+/ -23.54 mu g/g > 19.82+/-7.61 mu g/g and had a significance difference with P<0.05. These results were on the contrary to the blood, when com pared with the blood iron concentration in BFDPs at fourth stage and N BFDPs. The NBFDPs were higher than the BFDPs at the rate of 553.28+/-9 2.96 mu g/ml > 510.71+/-163.52 mu g/ml. Therefore iron may have some a ntagonistic effect to arsenic toxicity for the BFDPs and this fact is worthy of more academic study of the BFD in clinical application.