Abstract
BackgroundSeveral metals have been reported to be associated with childhood asthma. However, the results on relationships between metals and risk of childhood asthma are inconclusive, and the research on adult asthma in the Chinese general population is rare.ObjectivesTo investigate potential associations between levels of urinary metals and adult asthma.MethodsA case-control study of 551 adult asthma cases and 551 gender- and age-matched controls was conducted in Wuhan, China. Demographic information was obtained, and lung function was assessed. The urinary concentrations of 22 metals were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.ResultsAfter adjusting for other metalsand other covariates, urinary cadmium, molybdenum, chromium, copper, uranium and selenium were positively associated with asthma, with odds ratios (95% CI) of 1.69 (1.00, 2.85), 3.76 (2.30, 6.16), 4.89 (3.04, 7.89), 6.06 (3.27, 11.21), 6.99 (4.37, 11.19) and 9.17 (4.16, 20.21), respectively. By contrast, urinary lead, barium, iron, zinc, nickel, manganese and rubidium were negatively associated with asthma, with odds ratios (95% CI) of 0.48 (0.29, 0.80), 0.44 (0.27, 0.71), 0.41 (0.26, 0.64), 0.40 (0.24, 0.66), 0.30 (0.22, 0.41), 0.23 (0.14, 0.39) and 0.07 (0.03, 0.15), respectively. When comparing urinary metals in different subgroups of cases with those in matched controls, the associations of above 13 metals with asthma prevalence were nearly the same.ConclusionsOur results suggested that asthma prevalence in the Chinese adults was positively associated with urinary chromium, chromium, selenium, molybdenum, cadmium, and uranium, and negatively associated with urinary manganese, iron, nickel, zinc, rubidium, barium and lead. Additional research with larger populations in different regions is required to support our findings.
Highlights
Asthma, characterized by airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR) and recurrent episodes of airway obstruction and wheezing, is one of the most common chronic inflammatory lung diseases
After adjusting for other metalsand other covariates, urinary cadmium, molybdenum, chromium, copper, uranium and selenium were positively associated with asthma, with odds ratios of 1.69 (1.00, 2.85), 3.76 (2.30, 6.16), 4.89 (3.04, 7.89), 6.06 (3.27, 11.21), 6.99 (4.37, 11.19) and 9.17 (4.16, 20.21), respectively
Our results suggested that asthma prevalence in the Chinese adults was positively associated with urinary chromium, chromium, selenium, molybdenum, cadmium, and uranium, and negatively associated with urinary manganese, iron, nickel, zinc, rubidium, barium and lead
Summary
Asthma, characterized by airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR) and recurrent episodes of airway obstruction and wheezing, is one of the most common chronic inflammatory lung diseases. The prevalence of asthma has dramatically increased, and it affects approximately 235 million individuals worldwide [1]. In China, approximately 30 million individuals suffered from asthma, and the prevalence was 1.24% in 2011[2]. Some metals were reported to play an important role in the expressions of inflammatory cytokines or oxidant/antioxidant balance. Since inflammatory responses and oxidative stress were the possible pathogenesis of asthma, concerns have been raised as to whether certain metals were associated with asthma prevalence [4]. Several metals have been reported to be associated with childhood asthma. The results on relationships between metals and risk of childhood asthma are inconclusive, and the research on adult asthma in the Chinese general population is rare
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