Abstract
The aim of this study is to evaluate blood cadmium levels (BCLs) in Chinese adults and explore whether blood cadmium is associated with diabetes or obesity. This study included 5544 adults from a cross-sectional SPECT-China study. BCL and blood lead level (BLL) was measured by atomic absorption spectrometry. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) was used to define prediabetes and diabetes. Overweight and obesity were defined by body mass index (BMI). The associations of BCL with prediabetes, diabetes, overweight, and obesity were analyzed by multinomial logistic regression analyses. Medians (interquartile range) of BCL were 1.97 μg/L (0.60–3.82) in men and 1.59 μg/L (0.54–3.51) in women. Subjects in low-economic-status areas and urban areas had significantly higher BCL. BCL in current smokers was significantly higher than in current non-smokers. In the adjusted model, a mild positive relationship between BCL and FPG was found. Meanwhile, the prevalence of prediabetes was increased according to the increase in BCL tertiles. Surprisingly, BCL had a negative relationship with prevalence of overweight. In conclusion, BCL in Chinese adults was much higher than in other developed countries and was influenced by gender, smoking, and residential area. BCL was positively related to prediabetes while negatively related to overweight.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Weiping Tu, Bin Li, and Ling Hu for helping organize this investigation.
The authors thank Xiaojin Wang and Bingshun Wang from the Department of Biostatistics, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine for data processing.
The authors also thank all team members and participants from Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi Province in the SPECT-China study.
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Authors’ contributions
Xiaomin Nie, Ningjian Wang, and Yi Chen researched the data and wrote the manuscript. ChiChen and Bing Han researched the data. Chunfang Zhu, Yingchao Chen, Fangzhen Xia, Zhen Cang, Meng Lu, Ying Meng contributed to the discussion. Michael D. Jensen, Boren Jiang, and Yingli Lu reviewed the manuscript.
Funding
This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81270885, 81070677, 81570726); Clinical Potential Subject Construction of Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine (2014); Ministry of Science and Technology in China (2012CB524906); Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (14495810700); and Fund for outstanding academic leaders in Shanghai (12XD1403100).
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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues
Xiaomin Nie, Ningjian Wang and Yi Chen contributed equally to this work.
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Nie, X., Wang, N., Chen, Y. et al. Blood cadmium in Chinese adults and its relationships with diabetes and obesity. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 18714–18723 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7078-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7078-2