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. 2013 Nov 26;8(11):e81530.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0081530. eCollection 2013.

Arsenic exposure affects plasma insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in children in rural Bangladesh

Sultan Ahmed  1 , Rokeya Sultana Rekha, Khalid Bin Ahsan, Mariko Doi, Margaretha Grandér, Anjan Kumar Roy, Eva-Charlotte Ekström, Yukiko Wagatsuma, Marie Vahter, Rubhana Raqib
Affiliations

Arsenic exposure affects plasma insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in children in rural Bangladesh

Sultan Ahmed et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Exposure to inorganic arsenic (As) through drinking water during pregnancy is associated with lower birth size and child growth. The aim of the study was to assess the effects of As exposure on child growth parameters to evaluate causal associations.

Methodology/findings: Children born in a longitudinal mother-child cohort in rural Bangladesh were studied at 4.5 years (n=640) as well as at birth (n=134). Exposure to arsenic was assessed by concurrent and prenatal (maternal) urinary concentrations of arsenic metabolites (U-As). Associations with plasma concentrations of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), calcium (Ca), vitamin D (Vit-D), bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (B-ALP), intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), and phosphate (PO4) were evaluated by linear regression analysis, adjusted for socioeconomic factor, parity and child sex. Child U-As (per 10 µg/L) was significantly inversely associated with concurrent plasma IGF-1 (β=-0.27; 95% confidence interval: -0.50, -0.0042) at 4.5 years. The effect was more obvious in girls (β=-0.29; -0.59, 0.021) than in boys, and particularly in girls with adequate height (β=-0.491; -0.97, -0.02) or weight (β=-0.47; 0.97, 0.01). Maternal U-As was inversely associated with child IGF-1 at birth (r=-0.254, P=0.003), but not at 4.5 years. There was a tendency of positive association between U-As and plasma PO4 in stunted boys (β=0.27; 0.089, 0.46). When stratified by % monomethylarsonic acid (MMA, arsenic metabolite) (median split at 9.7%), a much stronger inverse association between U-As and IGF-1 in the girls (β=-0.41; -0.77, -0.03) was obtained above the median split.

Conclusion: The results suggest that As-related growth impairment in children is mediated, at least partly, through suppressed IGF-1 levels.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Mean insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels in (A) stunted (N=185) and normal height (N=455); (B) underweight (N=252) and normal weight (N=388)
(; and (C) in different quartiles of urinary arsenic (N= 160 in each quartiles) in children at 4.5 years of age.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Associations between concurrent urinary arsenic (U-As) and plasma IGF-1 in 4.5 years children; (A) boys (rs=-0.06; P=0.26), (B) girls (rs=-0.118; P=0.038).
Solid line indicates linear regression line and dashed line indicates Loess line.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Associations between maternal urinary arsenic at gestational week (GW) 8 and 30 with cord blood insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in all children, boys and girls.
The associations were adjusted with mother age, socioeconomic status (SES), parity (birth order), child sex (for all children), and birth weight and height.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Publication types

Grants and funding

The study was supported by the Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation with Developing Countries (Sida/SAREC Agreement support; grant GR00599); Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (18256005) and icddr,b. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
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