Heavy Metal Depuration in Contaminated Population Chronically Exposed Using Probiotic Bacteria

Almost half of the regions in Peru have increased mining activities. In these regions, the overwhelming majority of the population is coping with high levels of lead in their blood (over 10 ug/dL). Also, nine out of ten children are showing high levels of at least one heavy metal in their body. Chronic exposure to heavy metals (even at low levels) is detrimental for human health and the issue has been established as a public health concern in Peruvian regions with mining activity. Most studies are focused on both the environment and human exposure. However, no studies are available on the depuration of heavy metals from the human body. This innovative solution proposes to develop a probiotic beverage to be used as a dietary supplement. This product will be based on microorganisms that have the capacity to potentially depurate/detoxify heavy metals from the body. A set of bacteria/genomes with the most efficient depuration potential will be selected and further analyzed, based on functional analysis in vitro. Options with proven heavy-metal detoxification capacity will be analyzed in vivo (i.e., using animal models) before being applied to humans. This project is funded under a collaborative agreement between CONCYTEC (Peru’s National Council for Science, Technology and Technological Innovation) and Grand Challenges Canada (funded by the Government of Canada) to support Stars in Global Health innovators based in Peru.