Association between Musculoskeletal Pain and Bone Turnover Markers in Long-Term Pb-Exposed Workers

Background: on chronic exposure, lead (pb) deposits in the skeletal system, replaces calciumions, and alters the normal physiological processes, which in turn, lead to stunting, delayed fracture healing, and high resorption of collagen molecules. the present study aimed to assess theassociation of musculoskeletal pain and discomfort with bone turnover markers (btms) amonglong-term pb-exposed workers.study design: a cross-sectional study.methods: the study recruited 176 male pb-exposed workers and 80 control subjects who werematched for age, gender, and socio-economic status. blood lead levels (blls), bone growthmarkers, such as serum osteocalcin (oc), alkaline phosphatase (alp), bone alkaline phosphatase(bap), and bone resorption markers: serum pyridinoline (pry), deoxypyridinoline (dpry), tartrateresistant acid phosphatase-5b(tracp-5b), and hydroxyproline in urine (hyp-u) of participants were investigated. pain and discomfort in the musculoskeletal system were assessed using nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire.results: pb-exposure was significantly associated with musculoskeletal discomfort of the lowerback (p<0.001), upper back (p<0.001), and ankle/foot (p=0.011). among bone formation markers,serum oc was significantly lower in musculoskeletal discomfort of elbows (p=0.033) and ankle/foot(p=0.042). among bone resorption markers, serum dpry was significantly lower in musculoskeletaldiscomfort of the neck (p=0.049) and shoulders (p=0.023). hyp-u was significantly higher inmusculoskeletal discomfort of shoulders (p=0.035) and lower back (p=0.036).conclusion: as evidenced by the obtained results, pb-exposure was associated withmusculoskeletal discomfort of the lower back, upper back, and ankle/foot. lower bone formation(serum oc) marker was noted with musculoskeletal discomfort of elbows and ankle/foot.furthermore, bone resorption markers were associated with musculoskeletal discomfort of theneck, shoulders, and lower back. the findings of the present study suggested that long-term pbexposure and btms were associated with musculoskeletal discomfort.