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Exposure to Metal Mixtures and Overweight or Obesity Among Chinese Adults

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Abstract

Previous research has investigated the association between individual metal exposure and overweight/obesity (OW/OB). However, there is limited data about metal mixture exposure and OW/OB. This study aimed to explore the individual and joint effects of 21 metals on OW/OB and its metabolic phenotypes. A total of 4042 participants were enrolled in our study, and 51.0% of them were overweight/obese. We quantified 21 metal levels in the urine sample. OW/OB was defined as BMI ≥ 24 kg/m2, while the metabolic phenotypes, including metabolic unhealthy overweight/obesity (MUOW/OB) and metabolic health overweight/obesity (MHOW/OB), were determined by BMI and metabolic state. We used logistic regression to analyze the effect of individual metal exposure on OW/OB and its metabolic phenotypes. Quantile g-computation was applied to evaluate the joint effect of metal exposure on OW/OB and its metabolic phenotypes. In logistic regression, zinc (Zn) was positively associated with OW/OB, with the odds ratio (OR) in the highest quartiles of 2.19 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.74, 2.77; P trend < 0.001), while arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) were negatively associated with OW/OB (OR = 0.70 (0.56, 0.87) and 0.61 (0.48, 0.78), respectively). After adjustment for age, gender, education, cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, meat intake, and vegetable intake, Zn was positively associated with MUOW/OB, while As, Cd, nickel (Ni), and strontium (Sr) were negatively associated with MUOW/OB (all P trend < 0.05). Quantile g-computation showed a significantly negative association between metal mixture exposure and MUOW/OB. Our study suggested that metal mixture exposure might be negatively associated with OW/OB, particularly with MUOW/OB. Zn, As and Cd contributed most to the effect of the mixture. More prospective studies are warranted to confirm these findings and reveal the underlying mechanisms.

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The data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all the study participants in this study and the staffs of the Wuhan Tongji Hospital.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82073660, 82003479) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2019M662646, 2020T130220).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hangkong Road 13, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, China

    Gaojie Fan, Qing Liu, Mingyang Wu, Jianing Bi, Xiya Qin, Qing Fang, Youjie Wang & Lulu Song

  2. Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubation), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China

    Gaojie Fan, Qing Liu, Mingyang Wu, Jianing Bi, Xiya Qin, Qing Fang, Youjie Wang & Lulu Song

  3. Health Management Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China

    Zhengce Wan & Yongman Lv

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  1. Gaojie Fan
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  2. Qing Liu
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  10. Lulu Song
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Contributions

Youjie Wang and Lulu Song designed the study and reviewed the manuscript. Gaojie Fan, Lulu Song, Qing Liu, Mingyang Wu, Jianing Bi, Xiya Qin, Qing Fang, Zhengce Wan, and Yongman Lv conducted the study. Gaojie Fan analyzed the data and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors provided important intellectual contributions, edited the manuscript, and ensured its final contents.

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Correspondence to Youjie Wang or Lulu Song.

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Fan, G., Liu, Q., Wu, M. et al. Exposure to Metal Mixtures and Overweight or Obesity Among Chinese Adults. Biol Trace Elem Res 201, 3697–3705 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-022-03484-0

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