Graded associations of blood lead and urinary cadmium concentrations with oxidative-stress-related markers in the U.S. population: results from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Although oxidative stress has been proposed as a mechanism of lead and cadmium toxicity mostly based on in vitro experiments or animal studies, it is uncertain whether this mechanism is relevant in the pathogenesis of lead- or cadmium-related diseases in the general population with low environmental exposure to lead and cadmium. We examined associations of blood lead and urinary cadmium levels with oxidative stress markers of serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), vitamin C, carotenoids, and vitamin E among 10,098 adult participants in the third U.S.

A strong secular trend in serum gamma-glutamyltransferase from 1996 to 2003 among South Korean men.

Serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) concentration, within its normal range, has recently been proposed as a reliable marker of oxidative stress. Oxidative stress plays a central pathogenic role in many metabolic and/or cardiovascular diseases, incidences of which have recently increased in South Korea. Since serum GGT has strong associations with these diseases and their risk factors, the authors hypothesized a corresponding secular trend of increasing serum GGT levels in South Korea.