Elementos essenciais e tóxicos e suas relações com os fatores de risco cardiometabólicos em adultos e idosos

Abstract

Evidence suggests a relationship between concentrations of essential and toxic elements and the worsening of cardiometabolic risk factors. This study aimed to investigate zinc, copper, selenium, arsenic, cadmium and mercury levels and their relationship with cardiometabolic risk factors in adults and elderly. This cross-sectional study was carried out with 112 individuals of both sexes, living in the city of Natal/RN, participating in the Brazilian Usual Consumption Assessment Study (BRAZUCA) Natal. Sociodemographic, clinical and lifestyle data were collected. Anthropometric parameters (waist circumference - WC and visceral adiposity index - VAI), glycemic and lipid profile, blood pressure and high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were evaluated. The Global Risk Score (ERG) was calculated, and the cardiovascular risk was determined. Zinc, selenium and copper levels in plasma, and arsenic, cadmium and mercury levels in urine were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry technique (ICP-MS). Multiple linear regression models, adjusted for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), smoking and frequency of alcohol consumption, were built to identify the relationship of chemical elements with cardiometabolic risk factors. An inverse association was observed between arsenic in urine and the visceral adiposity index (VAI) (β -0.03, R² 18.22, p<0.01), triglycerides (β -1.11, R² 25.09, p<0.01) and VLDL cholesterol fraction (β -0.14, R² 16.01, p=0.02). Positive associations were observed between plasma copper (β 0.38, R² 7.55, p<0.01) and copper/zinc ratio with fasting blood glucose (β 36.02, R² 6.58, p= 0.01) and hs-CRP (plasma copper: β 0.004, R² 12.40, p<0.01; copper/zinc ratio: β 0.68, R² 25.14, p<0.001). Systolic blood pressure was inversely associated with urinary arsenic levels (β -0.14, R² 15.87, p=0.04) and urinary cadmium levels (β -36.42, R² 21.34, p=0.04) and, diastolic blood pressure was inversely associated with urinary cadmium levels (β -21.55, R² 7.47, p=0.03) and positively with urinary mercury levels (β 1.45, R² 7 .17, p=0.03). In conclusion, essential and toxic elements in different biological matrices were associated with cardiometabolic risk factors, suggesting the expansion of studies that to confirm the usefulness of these elements as predictors of cardiovascular risk.