Leukocyte Telomere Length Mediates the Associations between Blood Lead and Cadmium with Hypertension among Adults in the United States: A Cross-Sectional Study
Changping Ouyang,
Yinan Yang,
Jinhua Pan,
Heming Liu,
Xuemei Wang,
Shengze Zhou,
Xiaoru Shi,
Yanxia Zhang,
Dan Wang,
Xiaobin Hu
Affiliations
Changping Ouyang
Institute of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, No. 199 Donggang West Road, Chengguan District, Lanzhou 730000, China
Yinan Yang
The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519000, China
Jinhua Pan
Institute of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, No. 199 Donggang West Road, Chengguan District, Lanzhou 730000, China
Heming Liu
Institute of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, No. 199 Donggang West Road, Chengguan District, Lanzhou 730000, China
Xuemei Wang
Institute of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, No. 199 Donggang West Road, Chengguan District, Lanzhou 730000, China
Shengze Zhou
Institute of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, No. 199 Donggang West Road, Chengguan District, Lanzhou 730000, China
Xiaoru Shi
Institute of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, No. 199 Donggang West Road, Chengguan District, Lanzhou 730000, China
Yanxia Zhang
Institute of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, No. 199 Donggang West Road, Chengguan District, Lanzhou 730000, China
Dan Wang
Institute of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, No. 199 Donggang West Road, Chengguan District, Lanzhou 730000, China
Xiaobin Hu
Institute of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, No. 199 Donggang West Road, Chengguan District, Lanzhou 730000, China
There is evidence to support the links between lead and cadmium exposure with hypertension and also with leukocyte telomere length (LTL). The objective of this study is to investigate the role that LTL may play in the relationship between lead and cadmium exposure and hypertension. This study consisted of 3718 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999–2002. Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between blood metals with hypertension, and the mediating model was used to evaluate the mediating effect of LTL. In the fully adjusted model, both blood lead and cadmium ln-transformed concentrations were significantly positively associated with hypertension risk, as were all quartiles of blood lead. Additionally, we observed positive linear dose–response relationships with hypertension by restricted cubic spline analysis (both p overall p non-linear = 0.3008 for lead and p non-linear = 0.7611 for cadmium). The ln-transformed blood lead and cadmium concentrations were associated with shorter LTL. LTL was inversely related to hypertension and the OR was 0.65 (95% CI: 0.47 to 0.89). Furthermore, LTL had mediating effects on the associations of blood lead and cadmium with hypertension risk, and the mediation proportions were 2.25% and 4.20%, respectively. Our findings suggested that exposure to lead and cadmium raised the risk of hypertension, while LTL played as a mediating factor.
