Higher risk of hyperglycemia with greater susceptibility in females in chronic arsenic-exposed individuals in Bangladesh.

Abstract

Arsenic (As) toxicity and diabetes mellitus (DM) are emerging public health concerns worldwide. Although exposure to high levels of As has been associated with DM, whether there is also an association between low and moderate As exposure and DM remains unclear. We explored the dose-dependent association between As exposure levels and hyperglycemia, with special consideration of the impact of demographic variables, in 641 subjects from rural Bangladesh. The total study participants were divided into three groups depending on their levels of exposure to As in drinking water (low, moderate and high exposure groups). Prevalence of hyperglycemia, including impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and DM was significantly associated with the subjects' drinking water arsenic levels. Almost all exposure metrics (As levels in the subjects' drinking water, hair and nails) showed dose-dependent associations with the risk of hyperglycemia, IGT and DM. Among the variables considered, sex, age, and BMI were found to be associated with higher risk of hyperglycemia, IGT and DM. In sex-stratified analyses, As exposure showed a clearer pattern of dose-dependent risk for hyperglycemia in females than males. Finally, drinking water containing low-to-moderate levels of As (50.01-150 μg/L) was found to confer a greater risk of hyperglycemia than safe drinking water (As ≤10 μg/L). Thus the results suggested that As exposure was dose-dependently associated with hyperglycemia, especially in females.

• Authors: Sudip Kumar Paul, Md Shofikul Islam, M M Hasibuzzaman, Faruk Hossain, Adiba Anjum, Zahangir Alam Saud, Md Mominul Haque, Papia Sultana, Azizul Haque, Klara Biljana Andric, Aminur Rahman, Md Rezaul Karim, Abu Eabrahim Siddique, Yeasir Karim, Mizanur Rahman, Hideki Miyataka, Lian Xin, Seiichiro Himeno, Khaled Hossain
• Journal: The Science of the total environment (Sci Total Environ) Vol. 668 Pg. 1004-1012 (Jun 10 2019) ISSN: 1879-1026 [Electronic] Netherlands
• PMID: 31018442 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Drinking Water
• Water Pollutants, Chemical
• Arsenic

Topics

• Adult
• Arsenic (analysis)
• Arsenic Poisoning (complications, epidemiology)
• Bangladesh (epidemiology)
• Body Mass Index
• Diabetes Mellitus (epidemiology, physiopathology)
• Disease Susceptibility
• Drinking Water (chemistry)
• Environmental Exposure
• Female
• Hair (chemistry)
• Humans
• Hyperglycemia (epidemiology, physiopathology)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Nails (chemistry)
• Prevalence
• Water Pollutants, Chemical (analysis)
• Water Supply