Exposição ao cádmio como fator de risco para o diabetes mellitus: uma revisão narrativa

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a heterogeneous set of metabolic disorders characterized by chronic hyperglycemia, with type 2 diabetes being the most prevalent. Among the risk factors for triggering type 2 diabetes are environmental factors that include exposure to heavy metals such as cadmium, which is indicated as a predictor for the development of diabetes, due to mechanisms of action such as increased oxidative stress and induction of inflammation. The objective of the present work was to investigate the association of exposure to cadmium with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in human studies. This is a narrative review of literature carried out through a bibliographic search in the PubMed database (MEDLINE). To carry out the search in the literature, the search terms “Diabetes Mellitus” “Hyperglycemia” “Glucose Intolerance” “Heavy Metal” “Minerals” “Cadmium” were used. Of the total of 219 articles, 19 involving cohort, casecontrol and cross-sectional studies published between the years 2003-2020 were included. Most studies analyzed adult and/or elderly men and women, with a sample size that ranged from 128 to 9,447 individuals, predominantly from Asian countries. More than half of the included studies suggest an association between cadmium concentrations in blood and/or hair and/or urine and the incidence or prevalence of type 2 diabetes in populations. Human studies show inconsistent results regarding the effects of environmental exposure to cadmium and the risk of type 2 diabetes, although there are plausible biological explanations for the element's role in the pathogenesis of the disease.