TY - JOUR
T1 - Association between Heavy Metal Exposure and Dyslipidemia among Korean Adults
T2 - From the Korean National Environmental Health Survey, 2015–2017
AU - Kim, Do Won
AU - Ock, Jeongwon
AU - Moon, Kyong Whan
AU - Park, Choong Hee
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This survey was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Research funded by the Ministry of Environment (MOE) of Korea (NIER-2017-01-01-001).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/3/1
Y1 - 2022/3/1
N2 - Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death in Korea. Dyslipidemia, characterized by the presence of abnormal lipid levels, has been suggested as an early diagnostic and preventable factor for CVD. Recent studies have shown that exposure to lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg) affects lipid metabolism. This study aimed to verify the association between heavy metal concentrations and serum lipid profiles in the general population. A representative sample of 2591 Korean adults from the Korean National Environmental Health Survey (2015–2017) was analyzed. The associations between heavy metals [Blood Pb (BPb), blood Hg (BHg), urinary Hg (UHg), urinary Cd (UCd)] and serum lipid profiles [total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), non-low level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (Non-HDL-C)] were assessed using regression analysis. After adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic factors, the proportional changes in serum lipid levels were significantly associated with increases in BPb, BHg, and UHg levels (p for trend < 0.05). Overall, BPb, BHg, and Uhg levels positively correlated with dyslipidemia, whereas UCd levels did not show a significant association. Our results suggest that heavy metal exposure, at low levels, may contribute to an increased prevalence of dyslipidemia in Korean adults.
AB - Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death in Korea. Dyslipidemia, characterized by the presence of abnormal lipid levels, has been suggested as an early diagnostic and preventable factor for CVD. Recent studies have shown that exposure to lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg) affects lipid metabolism. This study aimed to verify the association between heavy metal concentrations and serum lipid profiles in the general population. A representative sample of 2591 Korean adults from the Korean National Environmental Health Survey (2015–2017) was analyzed. The associations between heavy metals [Blood Pb (BPb), blood Hg (BHg), urinary Hg (UHg), urinary Cd (UCd)] and serum lipid profiles [total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), non-low level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (Non-HDL-C)] were assessed using regression analysis. After adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic factors, the proportional changes in serum lipid levels were significantly associated with increases in BPb, BHg, and UHg levels (p for trend < 0.05). Overall, BPb, BHg, and Uhg levels positively correlated with dyslipidemia, whereas UCd levels did not show a significant association. Our results suggest that heavy metal exposure, at low levels, may contribute to an increased prevalence of dyslipidemia in Korean adults.
KW - Dyslipidemia
KW - Heavy metals
KW - KoNEHS
KW - Serum lipid profiles
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85125935102&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph19063181
DO - 10.3390/ijerph19063181
M3 - Article
C2 - 35328872
AN - SCOPUS:85125935102
VL - 19
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
SN - 1661-7827
IS - 6
M1 - 3181
ER -
