Spectrophotometric study of the interaction between arsenic and bovine serum albumin

Argentina is one of the countries that are most widely affected by chronic endemic regional hydroarsenicism, a syndrome caused by the constant consumption of water polluted with arsenic at higher levels. In this study, the interaction of bovine serum albumin with arsenite and arsenate was analyzed employing UV-Vis spectroscopy, considering its low cost and greater availability. The number of binding sites, binding constants, and thermodynamic parameters ΔG°, ΔH°, and ΔS° -were determined. The results obtained indicate that the interaction of bovine serum albumin with arsenate is ionic, while that with arsenite is hydrophobic.