Trace Metals Importance

The importance of trace metals in human health issues has been increasingly recognized in recent decades. Trace metals are beneficial nutrient materials that act as essential cofactors in physiological processes by affecting enzymatic reactions or by influencing permeability of cell membranes [1]. Therefore, trace elements might affect directly or indirectly on the carcinogenic development [2–4]. However some metals may be toxic to human health. Recent evidence suggests that increase or decrease of certain trace metals may be related with risks and development of chronic diseases such as cancer [1]. On this subject, many investigations have been carried out in which have focused on metal-induced carcinogenicity and oxidative stress as the most

Therefore, nails samples may be useful markers for trace element assay and could be increasingly used in clinical studies. Many hypotheses involving trace metals, either as a required nutrient or a toxic material, Nail pieces can be often collected and stored for years prior to being retrieved and used in epidemiological studies for analyzing concentration of the trace elements in future clinical approaches [1, 14–16].
Scalp Hairs are the metabolic end products that have an identified potential to reflect the body metal load. The concentration of a certain metal in hair demonstrates a balanced mineral content of body in a long period of time. This content can be modified by intake exposure of trace metals in high quantities [17, 18]. Thus, the quantification of trace metals in scalp hairs can be used for estimation of long-term exposure to trace metals [19].
This study analyzed the hair and nail trace element levels in a group of patients with stomach cancer and healthy controls, thereby investigating whether these trace elements had any possible values in the diagnosis of stomach

The samples were stored in polythene bags and were labeled. The samples were then washed twice with 4% (w/v) detergent solution and twice rinsed with distilled water to remove exogenous contamination. The samples were dried overnight in an oven at 50 °C and cooled to 25 °C in a desiccator containing desiccant silica gel. A weighed portion about 1 g of the samples was treated with 8 ml of concentrated nitric acid (65%) and heated 10 min at 80 °C and was cooled to 25 °C. Then, 5.0 ml of perchloric acid was added to samples with subsequent heating until white dense fumes evolved. Finally, the samples were cooled to 25 °C and diluted to 10 ml with distilled water. The blank was prepared in the same way but without nail and hair sample. An inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-mass) ELAN 6000 (Perkin-Elmer, Norwalk, USA) was used for the determination of trace elements and metals including Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Potassium (K), Lithium (Li), Magnesium (Mg), Manganese (Mn), Sodium (Na), Phosphorus (P), Selenium (Se), Strontium (Sr) and Zinc (Zn).
Descriptive statistics was applied for demographic data of the patients with stomach cancer. Trace elements and metals concentrations were expressed as mean and median value (25 and 75 percentile) in parts per million (ppm). The statistical significance of median values between case and control groups was analyzed by independent sample t-test and Mann-Whitney test.