Portugal

Effects-Related Biomarkers of Toxic Exposures
(Grant: # P42ES004696 )  Publications
Checkoway, Harvey (checko@u.washington.edu ) - University of Washington
Abstract: The long-term objective of this study is to study the association between identified variations in gene sequence for particular enzymes involved in the heme biosynthesis pathway that responds to mercury, mercury exposure and mercury-mediated neurobehavioral effects in adults and children. To study these relationships in children, the research team will add a component to a currently long-standing clinical trial (The Cas Pia Study of Dental Amalgam in Children) conducted in Lisbon that has been studying the health effects of mercury-containing dental amalgam fillings in children. The recruitment of the 507 children to this study is complete. Children, who were enrolled in the clinical trial will be contacted as they reach the legal age of 18 and have completed all study procedures, to invite them to participate in another study involving the collection of buccal cells for DNA analysis by swabbing inside their mouths with a soft brush. The sequencing of DNA will allow the researchers to determine if variations in gene sequence is associated with mercury levels and possible neurobehavioral deficits.