ABSTRACT
Arsenic (As) toxicity is one of the emerging public health concerns worldwide. A limited number of studies have been conducted to explore the effects of As exposure on adult cognition. Moreover, biochemical basis of As-related cognitive impairment is almost unknown. The objectives of our study was to explore the association between As exposure and cognitive impairment by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) especially with regard to the serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (sBDNF) levels in adult human subjects recruited from As-endemic and non-endemic areas in Bangladesh. In this study, we found that MMSE score of the study subjects were 0.6, 0.48 and 0.41 times, and sBDNF levels were 0.7, 0.62 and 0.4 times lower for 1 unit increase in water, hair and nail As concentrations, respectively. Additionally, we found that As exposure levels were increased and sBDNF levels were decreased with greater severity of cognitive impairment. Thus the decreased BDNF level may be implicated in As exposure-related cognitive impairment.
