A study of telomere length, arsenic exposure, and arsenic toxicity in a Bangladeshi cohort
- PMID: 29567420
- PMCID: PMC6647858
- DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2018.03.005
A study of telomere length, arsenic exposure, and arsenic toxicity in a Bangladeshi cohort
Abstract
Background: Chronic arsenic exposure is associated with increased risk for arsenical skin lesions, cancer, and other adverse health outcomes. One potential mechanism of arsenic toxicity is telomere dysfunction. However, prior epidemiological studies of arsenic exposure, telomere length (TL), and skin lesion are small and cross-sectional. We investigated the associations between arsenic exposure and TL and between baseline TL and incident skin lesion risk among individuals participating in the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study in Bangladesh (2000-2009).
Methods: Quantitative PCR was used to measure the average TL of peripheral blood DNA collected at baseline. The association between baseline arsenic exposure (well water and urine) and TL was estimated in a randomly-selected subcohort (n = 1469). A nested case-control study (466 cases and 464 age- and sex-matched controls) was used to estimate the association between baseline TL and incident skin lesion risk (diagnosed < 8 years after baseline).
Results: No association was observed between arsenic exposure (water or urine) and TL. Among incident skin lesion cases and matched controls, we observed higher skin lesion risk among individuals with shorter TL (Ptrend = 1.5 × 10-5) with odds ratios of 2.60, 1.59, and 1.10 for the first (shortest), second, and third TL quartiles compared to the fourth (longest).
Conclusions: Arsenic exposure was not associated with TL among Bangladeshi adults, suggesting that leukocyte TL may not reflect a primary mode of action for arsenic's toxicity. However, short TL was associated with increased skin lesion risk, and may be a biomarker of arsenic susceptibility modifying arsenic's effect on skin lesion risk.
Keywords: Arsenic; Bangladesh; Drinking water; Skin lesion; Telomere length.
Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Conflict of interest statement
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Figures
Similar articles
-
Arsenic exposure, telomere length, and expression of telomere-related genes among Bangladeshi individuals.Environ Res. 2015 Jan;136:462-9. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2014.09.040. Epub 2014 Nov 25. Environ Res. 2015. PMID: 25460668 Free PMC article.
-
Arsenic exposure, dietary patterns, and skin lesion risk in bangladesh: a prospective study.Am J Epidemiol. 2011 Feb 1;173(3):345-54. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwq366. Epub 2010 Dec 22. Am J Epidemiol. 2011. PMID: 21178101 Free PMC article.
-
Associations of Arsenic Exposure With Telomere Length and Naïve T Cells in Childhood-A Birth Cohort Study.Toxicol Sci. 2018 Aug 1;164(2):539-549. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfy105. Toxicol Sci. 2018. PMID: 29757418
-
Magnitude of arsenic toxicity in tube-well drinking water in Bangladesh and its adverse effects on human health including cancer: evidence from a review of the literature.Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2003 Jan-Mar;4(1):7-14. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2003. PMID: 12718695 Review.
-
Environmental and occupational exposure to chemicals and telomere length in human studies.Occup Environ Med. 2013 Oct;70(10):743-9. doi: 10.1136/oemed-2012-101350. Epub 2013 Jun 17. Occup Environ Med. 2013. PMID: 23775864 Review.
Cited by
-
Update of the risk assessment of inorganic arsenic in food.EFSA J. 2024 Jan 18;22(1):e8488. doi: 10.2903/j.efsa.2024.8488. eCollection 2024 Jan. EFSA J. 2024. PMID: 38239496 Free PMC article.
-
Telomeres susceptibility to environmental arsenic exposure: Shortening or lengthening?Front Public Health. 2023 Jan 10;10:1059248. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1059248. eCollection 2022. Front Public Health. 2023. PMID: 36703827 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Integrating Environment and Aging Research: Opportunities for Synergy and Acceleration.Front Aging Neurosci. 2022 Feb 21;14:824921. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.824921. eCollection 2022. Front Aging Neurosci. 2022. PMID: 35264945 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Telomeres and Telomere Length: A General Overview.Cancers (Basel). 2020 Feb 28;12(3):558. doi: 10.3390/cancers12030558. Cancers (Basel). 2020. PMID: 32121056 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Exposure to arsenic and lead in children from Salamanca México, effects on telomeric lengthening and mitochondrial DNA.Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2020 Feb;27(6):6420-6428. doi: 10.1007/s11356-019-07108-4. Epub 2019 Dec 23. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2020. PMID: 31873895
References
-
- Ahsan H, Chen Y, Parvez F, Argos M, Hussain AI, Momotaj H, et al., 2005. Health effects of arsenic longitudinal study (HEALS): description of a multidisciplinary epidemiologic investigation. J. Expo. Sci. Environ. Epidemiol. 16, 191–205. - PubMed
-
- Ahsan H, Chen Y, Parvez F, Zablotska L, Argos M, Hussain I, et al., 2006. Arsenic exposure from drinking water and risk of premalignant skin lesions in Bangladesh: baseline results from the health effects of arsenic longitudinal study. Am. J. Epidemiol. 163, 1138–1148. - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical