Arsenic in the Pathway to Cardiovascular Diseases: Arsenic May Mediate Lipid Profile in Adults

Abstract

Abstract Objectives Recent studies indicate arsenic exposure may increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, but the mechanism of this association is still unknown. This study explores the relationship between urine arsenic levels and serum cholesterol and triglycerides. Our hypothesis is that greater arsenic levels may be associated with dyslipidemia. Methods We used data from a subpopulation (n = 1203, 25 – 65 years of age) of an ongoing cohort study, the China Health and Nutrition Survey, which has collected data from participants on demographics, arsenic levels, lipid profile, and many other variables. We measured arsenic levels from urine samples with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and serum lipid profile with an automated analyzer. With data collected in 2015, we used logistic regressions to analyze cross-sectional associations between arsenic exposure (categorized into three tertiles) and dyslipidemia, controlling for potential confounding variables like age, gender, residence area, occupation, and education level. Results Among this population, the median urine arsenic level was 19.3 µg/L (range 0 – 492.2 µg/L). The prevalence of high total cholesterol (defined as cholesterol ≥200 mg/dL) and high triglycerides (defined as total triglycerides ≥150 mg/dL) was 43.5% and 30.2%, respectively. After adjusting for potential cofounders, the odds ratio and 95% confidence interval was 1.41 (1.05, 1.88) for having high cholesterol, 1.41 (1.01, 1.97) for having high triglycerides and 1.42 (1.03, 1.97) for having low HDL level (defined as ≤40 mg/dL for men or 50 mg/dL for women), among participants in the higher arsenic exposure tertile compared to those in the lower tertile. Conclusions Our findings suggest that arsenic exposure, even in moderate concentrations, is positively associated with dyslipidemia. These results indicate that arsenic-mediated dyslipidemia may be a pathway to cardiovascular diseases. Funding Sources The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01 HD30880, P2C HD050924); the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01 DK104371); the National Institutes of Health (NIH); the NIH Fogarty International Center (D43 TW009077); the National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.