Cadmium Body Burden and Inflammatory Arthritis: A Pilot Study in Patients from Lower Silesia, Poland.

Iwona Markiewicz-Górka,Grzegorz Mazur,Krystyna Pawlas,Piotr Wiland,Anna Wojakowska,Helena Martynowicz,Rafał Poręba,Paweł Gać,Małgorzata Chowaniec,Aleksandra Jaremków

doi:10.3390/ijerph19053099

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between cadmium exposure and the likelihood of developing or exacerbating symptoms of inflammatory arthritis (IA). The study included 51 IA patients and 46 control subjects. Demographic and lifestyle data were collected. Haematological and biochemical parameters and blood cadmium levels (Cd-B) were determined. Cd-B correlated positively with age, smoking, living in a high-traffic area, and serum levels of inflammatory markers and negatively with mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC). The binary logistic regression model implied that high Cd-B (≥0.65 μg/L) is linked with an increased risk of IA in the studied population (odds ratio: 4.4). High levels of DNA oxidative damage marker (8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine) (≥7.66 ng/mL) and cyclooxygenase-2 (≥22.9 ng/mL) and frequent consumption of offal was also associated with increased risk of IA. High Cd-B was related to increased risk of disease symptoms onset in the group of IA patients, decreased the level of interleukin 10, and positively correlated with the disease activity. Increased Cd-B is associated with intensified inflammatory processes and decreased haemoglobin levels; in IA patients with decreased anti-inflammatory interleukin 10. These changes partly explain why cadmium exposure and a high cadmium body burden may raise the risk of IA and of disease symptoms exacerbation.

Highlights

There has been a steady increase in the prevalence of autoimmune diseases worldwide, in the developed, industrialized western and northern countries
There were no significant differences in terms of age, sex, place of residence, or education level between the inflammatory arthritis (IA) patients and controls
Most individuals (88.2% of IA patients and 71.7% of controls) declared environmental exposure to cadmium related to low emissions at home and/or at work

Summary

Introduction

There has been a steady increase in the prevalence of autoimmune diseases worldwide, in the developed, industrialized western and northern countries. The prevalence of rheumatic diseases is rising the most, followed by endocrine and gastrointestinal diseases [1]. According to the Declaration of the European Parliament on rheumatic diseases [2], musculoskeletal manifestations occur in approximately 30–40% of the European population. The three most common types of inflammatory arthritis (IA) are rheumatoid arthritis (RA, affects nearly 1% of the population worldwide), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and ankylosing spondylitis (AS). These are chronic, progressive autoimmune diseases whose pathogenesis is still not fully understood [3–5].

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