Comparative Evaluation of Heavy Metals in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Healthy Control in Pakistani Population

BACKGROUND Exposure to heavy metals in development of many diseases has been investigated previously, specially created by oxidative stress. The etiology of Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is still not fully understood but oxidative stress created by heavy metals may have role in development of RA. The aim of present study was to compare serum level of heavy metals in RA and healthy control individuals. METHODS Blood samples of 100 RA patients were collected from different hospitals in district Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan and 100 control individuals from Dec 2013 to May 2014.The serum samples were analyzed for determination of Pb, Cd, Cr and Ni through Atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AA 6600 Shimadzu). RESULTS Statistically highly significant difference was observed between RA patients and healthy control individuals for Pb, Cd, Cr, and Ni level (P<0.01). The difference between the means of both sexes was not significant for Pb and Cd concentrations (P>0.01). For Cr the difference between the means of both sexes was statistically not significant in RA +ve patients and highly significant difference was observed between both sexes in healthy control group (P<0.01). The difference between the means of both sexes for Ni was statistically non-significant in healthy control group while significant difference was observed between both sexes in RA +ve group (P<0.05). Statistically non-significant difference for Pb, Cd, Cr and Ni level was found among the all three age groups of RA and healthy control individuals (P>0.01). CONCLUSION Concentration of heavy metals in serum samples of RA patients and healthy control individuals differ significantly, which shows that heavy metals may contributes towards development of RA.