Total and speciated urinary arsenic levels in the Spanish population.

Background: Very few studies exist on urinary arsenic exposure in Spain.

Objective: To evaluate total and speciated urinary arsenic (As) levels in a Spanish population sample.

Methods: Demographic, lifestyle and dietary data was collected for 124 volunteers (aged 20-76years; 88 women and 36 men), who were tested for total arsenic and five arsenic species using high-performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

Effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE i) on zinc metabolism in patients with heart failure.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and furosemide on zinc metabolism by assessing serum zinc and urine levels in hospitalized subjects. We recruited 11 patients with heart failure from the Internal Medicine Department; these patients had been hospitalized less than 72 h before. Heart failure was defined using clinical and radiological signs.