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Association of Urinary and Blood Concentrations of Heavy Metals with Measures of Bone Mineral Density Loss: a Data Mining Approach with the Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

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Abstract

Osteoporosis and its consequence of fragility fracture represent a major public health problem. Human exposure to heavy metals has received considerable attention over the last decades. However, little is known about the influence of co-exposure to multiple heavy metals on bone density. The present study aimed to examine the association between exposure to metals and bone mineral density (BMD) loss. Blood and urine concentrations of 20 chemical elements were selected from 3 cycles (2005–2010) NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey), in which we included white women over 50 years of age and previously selected for BMD testing (N = 1892). The bone loss group was defined as participants having T-score < − 1.0, and the normal group was defined as participants having T-score ≥ − 1.0. We developed classification models based on support vector machines capable of determining which factors could best predict BMD loss. The model which included the five-best features-selected from the random forest were age, body mass index, urinary concentration of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and tungsten (W), which have achieved high scores for accuracy (92.18%), sensitivity (90.50%), and specificity (93.35%). These data demonstrate the importance of these factors and metals to the classification since they alone were capable of generating a classification model with a high prediction of accuracy without requiring the other variables. In summary, our findings provide insight into the important, yet overlooked impact that arsenic, cadmium, and tungsten have on overall bone health.

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Funding

This study was funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, no 2018/24069-3).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Toxicologia Analítica e de Sistemas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, 14040-903, Brazil

    João Paulo B. Ximenez & Fernando Barbosa Jr

  2. Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil

    Ariane Zamarioli

  3. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Melissa A. Kacena

  4. Instituto de Informática, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brazil

    Rommel Melgaço Barbosa

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  1. João Paulo B. Ximenez
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  4. Rommel Melgaço Barbosa
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  5. Fernando Barbosa Jr
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Contributions

JPBX, AZ, and FBJ designed the study. JPBX performed the analyses. JPBX, AZ, and FBJ analyzed data and wrote the manuscript. JPBX, AZ, MK, RMB, and FBJ interpreted the data and revised the manuscript. All authors approve of the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to João Paulo B. Ximenez.

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Ximenez, J.P.B., Zamarioli, A., Kacena, M.A. et al. Association of Urinary and Blood Concentrations of Heavy Metals with Measures of Bone Mineral Density Loss: a Data Mining Approach with the Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Biol Trace Elem Res 199, 92–101 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-020-02150-7

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