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Blood cadmium levels and Alzheimer's disease mortality risk in older US adults
Min JY, Min KB.. Environmental health : a global access science source, 2016-06-14
Topic: Air pollution and environmental exposures
Background Cadmium, a ubiquitous environmental pollutant, exhibits potential neurotoxic risk. Although compelling evidence suggests cadmium accumulation has a role in the formation of amyloid-β plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, which are the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis, the supporting evidence in humans is limited and conflicting. In this study, we investigated the association between blood cadmium levels and AD mortality among older adults by analyzing the prospective data from the 1999-2004 Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and the Linked Mortality File. Methods The data were obtained from the 1999-2004 NHANES and the NHANES (1999-2004) Linked Mortality File. A total of 4,064 participants aged ≥60 years old with available blood cadmium data and no other missing information on their questionnaires at baseline were included in this study. AD was denoted as G30 based on the ICD-10 underlying causes of death. Results Of the 4,064 participants, 51 subjects died as a result of AD. Compared with participants with low blood cadmium levels (≤0.3 μg/L), those with high cadmium levels (>0.6 μg/L) exhibited a 3.83-fold (hazard ratio = 3.83; 95 % CI = 1.39-10.59) increased risk of AD mortality. In the Kaplan-Meier survival curves for cumulative AD mortality, higher levels of blood cadmium showed marginally significant association with increased mortality at baseline and in patients over 60 years of age (p = 0.0684). Conclusions We observed a significant association between blood cadmium levels and AD mortality among older adults in the US. Our findings suggest that environmental exposure to cadmium may be a risk factor for AD.
Key findings
- Results Of the 4,064 participants, 51 subjects died as a result of AD.
- Compared with participants with low blood cadmium levels (≤0.3 μg/L), those with high cadmium levels (>0.6 μg/L) exhibited a 3.83-fold (hazard ratio = 3.83; 95 % CI = 1.39-10.59) increased risk of AD mortality.
- In the Kaplan-Meier survival curves for cumulative AD mortality, higher levels of blood cadmium showed marginally significant association with increased mortality at baseline and in patients over 60 years of age (p = 0.0684).
- Conclusions We observed a significant association between blood cadmium levels and AD mortality among older adults in the US.
- Our findings suggest that environmental exposure to cadmium may be a risk factor for AD.
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Study details
- Participants4,064
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 50/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 29 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 50 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Environmental health : a global access science source) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2016 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 3 / 4 | 4,064 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 27301955) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 29 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 29 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 50 out of 100. |
| Total | 50 / 100 | — |
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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APA 7th
Min, J. Y., & Min, K. B. (2016). Blood cadmium levels and Alzheimer's disease mortality risk in older US adults. Environmental health : a global access science source. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-016-0155-7
Vancouver
Min JY, Min KB. Blood cadmium levels and Alzheimer's disease mortality risk in older US adults. Environmental health : a global access science source. 2016. doi:10.1186/s12940-016-0155-7. PMID: 27301955.
BibTeX
@article{min2016-27301955,
author = {Min, J. Y. and Min, K. B.},
title = {{Blood cadmium levels and Alzheimer's disease mortality risk in older US adults}},
journal = {Environmental health : a global access science source},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1186/s12940-016-0155-7},
pmid = {27301955},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-016-0155-7}
}
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