Abstract

ARSENIC INDUCED PROLIFERATION AND SUPPRESSION OF CARCINOGENESIS CELL: A DUAL MECHANISM

*Minshu Prashant and Bhuwal Ram

Abstract

Arsenic is a naturally occurring element that exists in the environment in a number of forms, each with its own unique physical, chemical, and toxicological characteristics. The natural content of arsenic in soils, globally, ranges from 0.01 to over 600 ppm, with an average of about 2 to 20 ppm depending on the country and source of information. The arsenic is metabolite in liver and also in other parts of the body like testes, kidney and lung tissues. The metabolic pathway of inorganic arsenic involves 2 main steps of chemical reactions: reduction and oxidative methylation. Arsenic is carcinogenic to humans, and targets in particular the urinary bladder, liver, skin, lung, prostate and other internal body sites. Generation of ROS, accumulation of Ca2+, up regulation of caspase-3, down regulation of Bcl-2,deficiency of p53 are, in nut shell, the events that collectively lead to apoptosis during arsenic toxicity. Cell transformation can only be observed in cells exposed to 0.5–25 μ Marsenite.

Keywords: Arsenic is a naturally cells exposed to 0.5–25 ? Marsenite.