J Bone Metab.  2016 May;23(2):101-109. 10.11005/jbm.2016.23.2.101.

High Levels of Heavy Metals Increase the Prevalence of Sarcopenia in the Elderly Population

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea.
  • 2Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. hayongch@naver.com

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Despite increasing concern regarding health problems as a result of environmental pollutants, no association of toxic heavy metals with sarcopenia has been demonstrated in the general population. We investigated the association of heavy metals, including lead, mercury and cadmium, with sarcopenia in the Korean population.
METHODS
Participants included 344 males and 360 females older than 65 years based on data from the fourth and fifth Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys. Measurements of blood lead, mercury and cadmium levels were performed. To evaluate the cumulative effect of the three heavy metals, subjects were categorized into quartiles. Sarcopenia was defined according to the criteria for the Asia Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) (SMI<5.4 kg/m2 in females and <7.0 kg/m2 in males).
RESULTS
Of 704 elderly persons (344 in males and 360 in females), prevalences of sarcopenia were 26.7% (92/344) in male and 7.5% (27/360) in female. Mean serum levels of lead in sarcopenia group were significantly higher than non-sarcopenia males (P=0.03). After adjustment for confounding factors, odds ratio for sarcopenia were increased with concentration category of lead (P=0.005 and P<0.001), mercury (P=0.001 and P<0.001) and cadmium (P=0.010 and P<0.001) in males and females, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates that high levels of blood lead, mercury and cadmium increase the prevalence of sarcopenia in both genders of elderly populations.

Keyword

Cadmium; Lead; Mercury; Metals heavy; Sarcopenia

MeSH Terms

Aged*
Asia
Cadmium
Environmental Pollutants
Female
Humans
Korea
Male
Metals, Heavy*
Odds Ratio
Prevalence*
Sarcopenia*
Cadmium
Environmental Pollutants
Metals, Heavy

Figure

  • Fig. 1 Selection process of study subjects, KNHANES IV, V (2008-2011). KNHANES, Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.


Reference

1. Henson MC, Chedrese PJ. Endocrine disruption by cadmium, a common environmental toxicant with paradoxical effects on reproduction. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2004; 229:383–392.
Article
2. Kumar A, Scott Clark C. Lead loadings in household dust in Delhi, India. Indoor Air. 2009; 19:414–420.
Article
3. Rosin A. The long-term consequences of exposure to lead. Isr Med Assoc J. 2009; 11:689–694.
4. Mercier M. International approach of the assessment of chemical risks. J Hyg Epidemiol Microbiol Immunol. 1990; 34:1–7.
5. Nogawa K, Kido T. Biological monitoring of cadmium exposure in itai-itai disease epidemiology. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 1993; 65:S43–S46.
Article
6. Harada M. Minamata disease: methylmercury poisoning in Japan caused by environmental pollution. Crit Rev Toxicol. 1995; 25:1–24.
Article
7. Vig EK, Hu H. Lead toxicity in older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2000; 48:1501–1506.
Article
8. Jomova K, Valko M. Advances in metal-induced oxidative stress and human disease. Toxicology. 2011; 283:65–87.
Article
9. Engström A, Michaëlsson K, Vahter M, et al. Associations between dietary cadmium exposure and bone mineral density and risk of osteoporosis and fractures among women. Bone. 2012; 50:1372–1378.
Article
10. Jin GB, Inoue S, Urano T, et al. Induction of anti-metallothionein antibody and mercury treatment decreases bone mineral density in mice. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2002; 185:98–110.
Article
11. Klein RF, Wiren KM. Regulation of osteoblastic gene expression by lead. Endocrinology. 1993; 132:2531–2537.
Article
12. Suzuki H, Asakawa A, Li JB, et al. Zinc as an appetite stimulator - the possible role of zinc in the progression of diseases such as cachexia and sarcopenia. Recent Pat Food Nutr Agric. 2011; 3:226–231.
Article
13. Wallin M, Barregard L, Sallsten G, et al. Low-level cadmium exposure is associated with decreased bone mineral density and increased risk of incident fractures in elderly men: the MrOS Sweden study. J Bone Miner Res. 2016; 31:732–741.
Article
14. Vanitallie TB. Frailty in the elderly: contributions of sarcopenia and visceral protein depletion. Metabolism. 2003; 52:22–26.
Article
15. Lloyd BD, Williamson DA, Singh NA, et al. Recurrent and injurious falls in the year following hip fracture: a prospective study of incidence and risk factors from the Sarcopenia and Hip Fracture study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2009; 64:599–609.
Article
16. Yoon HK, Park C, Jang S, et al. Incidence and mortality following hip fracture in Korea. J Korean Med Sci. 2011; 26:1087–1092.
Article
17. Frisoli A Jr, Chaves PH, Ingham SJ, et al. Severe osteopenia and osteoporosis, sarcopenia, and frailty status in community-dwelling older women: results from the Womens Health and Aging Study (WHAS) II. Bone. 2011; 48:952–957.
Article
18. Chen LK, Liu LK, Woo J, et al. Sarcopenia in Asia: consensus report of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2014; 15:95–101.
Article
19. Kwon HJ, Ha YC, Park HM. Prevalence of sarcopenia in the Korean woman based on the Korean national health and nutritional examination surveys. J Bone Metab. 2016; 23:23–26.
Article
20. Rosenberg IH. Sarcopenia: origins and clinical relevance. J Nutr. 1997; 127:990s–991s.
Article
21. Kaji H. Interaction between muscle and bone. J Bone Metab. 2014; 21:29–40.
Article
22. Patil R, Uusi-Rasi K, Pasanen M, et al. Sarcopenia and osteopenia among 70-80-year-old home-dwelling Finnish women: prevalence and association with functional performance. Osteoporos Int. 2013; 24:787–796.
Article
23. Verschueren S, Gielen E, O'Neill TW, et al. Sarcopenia and its relationship with bone mineral density in middle-aged and elderly European men. Osteoporos Int. 2013; 24:87–98.
Article
24. Alfvén T, Järup L, Elinder CG. Cadmium and lead in blood in relation to low bone mineral density and tubular proteinuria. Environ Health Perspect. 2002; 110:699–702.
Article
25. Barry PS. A comparison of concentrations of lead in human tissues. Br J Ind Med. 1975; 32:119–139.
Article
26. Hamilton JD, O'Flaherty EJ. Effects of lead exposure on skeletal development in rats. Fundam Appl Toxicol. 1994; 22:594–604.
Article
27. Goyer RA, Epstein S, Bhattacharyya M, et al. Environmental risk factors for osteoporosis. Environ Health Perspect. 1994; 102:390–394.
Article
28. Escribano A, Revilla M, Hernández ER, et al. Effect of lead on bone development and bone mass: a morphometric, densitometric, and histomorphometric study in growing rats. Calcif Tissue Int. 1997; 60:200–203.
Article
29. Potula V, Kleinbaum D, Kaye W. Lead exposure and spine bone mineral density. J Occup Environ Med. 2006; 48:556–564.
Article
30. Campbell JR, Auinger P. The association between blood lead levels and osteoporosis among adults--results from the third national health and nutrition examination survey (NHANES III). Environ Health Perspect. 2007; 115:1018–1022.
Article
31. Ma Y, Fu D, Liu Z. Effect of lead on apoptosis in cultured rat primary osteoblasts. Toxicol Ind Health. 2012; 28:136–146.
Article
32. Pounds JG, Long GJ, Rosen JF. Cellular and molecular toxicity of lead in bone. Environ Health Perspect. 1991; 91:17–32.
Article
33. Puzas JE, Sickel MJ, Felter ME. Osteoblasts and chondrocytes are important target cells for the toxic effects of lead. Neurotoxicology. 1992; 13:783–788.
34. Suzuki N, Yamamoto M, Watanabe K, et al. Both mercury and cadmium directly influence calcium homeostasis resulting from the suppression of scale bone cells: the scale is a good model for the evaluation of heavy metals in bone metabolism. J Bone Miner Metab. 2004; 22:439–446.
Article
35. Cho GJ, Park HT, Shin JH, et al. The relationship between blood mercury level and osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Menopause. 2012; 19:576–581.
Article
36. Chen X, Wang K, Wang Z, et al. Effects of lead and cadmium co-exposure on bone mineral density in a Chinese population. Bone. 2014; 63:76–80.
Article
Full Text Links
  • JBM
Actions
Cited
CITED
export Copy
Close
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Similar articles
Copyright © 2024 by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. All rights reserved.     E-mail: koreamed@kamje.or.kr