Page 29 - JCTR-11-1

Journal of Clinical and
Translational Research Pesticides and ischemic heart disease

periods, allowing them to circulate throughout the body pesticides can induce inflammation in human tissues,
and pose risks to the liver, heart, and other tissues. They potentially resulting in IHD and CVD.
evaluated both the short- and long-term side effects Consistent with our findings, other studies have also
of pesticide exposure in farm workers, revealing that shown a link between pesticide exposure and IHD. The
prolonged exposure had the most harmful effects to the categorization of pesticides, exposure conditions, physical
heart and lungs. Interestingly, researchers speculated that activity levels, biological parameters, and individual
pesticides may induce inflammation, leading to increased susceptibility are important factors for the incidence of
plasma fibrinogen levels. 30 CVD. Consequently, additional epidemiological studies
Arnal et al. assessed the role of heavy metals in patients are needed to evaluate the effects of different pesticides on
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with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, demonstrating CVD.
that heavy metals increase the level of ceruloplasmin in
plasma, thereby increasing total oxidative stress. Recent 5. Study limitations
research has documented that ceruloplasmin is a promoter One of the limitations of our study is the lack of
and risk factor for coronary heart disease development. measurement of pesticide level in the participants.
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These further suggest that farm workers exposed to Moreover, the lack of a detailed questionnaire to determine
pesticides, coupled with increased plasma ceruloplasmin the type of pesticides is an additional disadvantage.
levels, may be responsible for IHD development. This However, the advantages are the cohort-based study that
hypothesis aligns with the observed increase in IHD among can improve the quality, the number of participants, the
farmers exposed to pesticides in our study population. detailed questionnaire about diseases and pesticide use,
Another study revealed a direct relationship between and a well-trained medical team.
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pesticide exposure, lower activity of diazoxonase, and 6. Conclusion
higher levels of oxidized LDL. In addition, there was
a direct association between pesticide exposure and Our findings demonstrate that pesticide exposure can
decreased activity of paraoxonase (PON1). PON1 is a increase the risk of IHD in the studied cohort population.
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mediator to hydrolyze pesticides and can protect the body In particular, farm workers bear a considerable burden of
from their harmful effects. Therefore, low PON1 activity disease and morbidity, potentially due to the hard working
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in pesticide-exposed farm workers is related to a higher nature of the agricultural sector. The widespread use of
prevalence of IHD and other CVDs. pesticides by farm workers, combined with the lack of
accurate reporting on the prevalence of cardiovascular-
Pesticides can potentially be a risk factor for peripheral
vascular disease. The association between pesticides caused mortality, poses a serious concern for public health
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professionals.
and atherosclerosis was studied by Velmurugan et al.,
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who identified pesticides as a potent risk factor for Acknowledgments
peripheral arterial disease. Furthermore, Aminov et al.
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demonstrated that pesticides are directly involved in the The authors would like to thank the staff and participants
increased synthesis of lipids, including cholesterol and of the RCS.
triglycerides, which are the substances that constitute Funding
the main risk factors for CVD. This suggests that some
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pesticides may be directly involved in CVD development, None.
particularly with chronic exposure.
Conflict of interest
Researchers have hypothesized a mechanism for CVD
development in cases of chronic pesticide exposure. They The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
suggested that the estrogenic characteristic of pesticides
and their ability to modify lipid metabolism contribute Author contributions
to CVD development. Pesticides bind to lipoproteins, Conceptualization: Soheila Pourmasumi, Ali Esmaeili
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leading to changes in lipid profiles, such as increased LDL Nadimi, Hamid Hakimi, Mohammad Reza
levels in serum. These changes lead to inflammation and Vazifeshenas
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atherothrombosis, both of which are identified as risk Investigation: Hamid Hakimi, Alireza Vakilian
factors for CVD. Furthermore, a positive relationship has Methodology: Soheila Pourmasumi, Zahra Jamali, Alireza
been reported between pro-inflammatory interleukins Nazari, Fatemeh Ayoobi
(ILs), including IL-6 and IL-10, and CVD. Therefore, Visualization: Parvin Khalili
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Volume 11 Issue 1 (2025) 23 doi: 10.36922/jctr.22.00187