Lead poisoning pathophysiology

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Aksiniya K. Stevasarova, MD

Pathophysiology

Pathogenesis

• Lead has no known physiologically relevant role in the body.
• The toxicity of lead comes from its ability to mimic other biologically important metals, most notably calcium, iron and zinc which act as cofactors in many enzymatic reactions.
• Following ingestion, lead is able to bind to and interact with many of the same enzymes as these are metal,s but due to its differing chemistry, does not properly function as a co-factor, thus interfering with the enzyme's ability to catalyze its normal reaction(s).
• Lead toxicity symptoms arise are thought to occur by interfering with an essential enzyme Delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase, or ALAD. ALAD is a zinc-binding protein which is important in the biosynthesis of heme, the cofactor found inhemoglobin. Lead poisoning also inhibits the enzyme ferrochelatase which catalyzes the joining of protoporphyrin IX andFe2+ to form a Heme.