Iron-lead mixed exposure causes bone damage in mice: A multi-omics analysis

Excessive intake of essential and toxic metals affects the pathological process of osteoporosis. At present, the effects of single forms of iron (Fe), lead (Pb) and other metals on bone injury have been widely studied. However, these metal elements usually do not exist in the environment in a separate form. They are ingested in various ways and are often found together in the human body. However, the mechanism of bone damage caused by Fe and Pb mixed exposure is still unclear at this stage. At present, the combined analysis of multi-omics is the conventional method to explore the molecular mechanism behind the disease. Therefore, we attempted to combine proteomics and metabolomics to explain the mechanism of bone damage caused by mixed Fe and Pb exposure. Differential proteins and metabolites were found to be predominantly enriched in the JAK-STAT signalling pathway, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and osteoclast differentiation. Combined analysis showed that Fpr2, Lifr, Lisofylline, 7-Ketocholesterol, LacCer (d18: 1/14:0) and other substances may be involved in the process of bone injury mediated by mixed metal exposure. In summary, we hypothesise that mixed exposure to Fe and Pb leads to osteoclast activation via the JAK-STAT signalling pathway in situ and indirectly via the gut-bone axis, resulting in bone damage. In general, our study potentially suggests that bone injury induced by mixed exposure of Fe and Pb may be related to osteoclast proliferation mediated by changes in inflammatory levels in vivo.