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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutritional Epidemiology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1524099
This article is part of the Research Topic Eating Behavior and Chronic Diseases: Research Evidence from Population Studies, Volume II View all 8 articles
Single and mixed effects of seven heavy metals on stroke risk: 11803 adults from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Provisionally accepted- 1 Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
- 2 Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
- 3 Jiujiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jiujiang, Hebei Province, China
- 4 Suzhou Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
The accumulation of heavy metals in soil and plants poses risks to food safety. Human exposure to heavy metals has been linked to stroke risk, though research on this connection is limited and findings are inconsistent. Methods: We estimated the associations of 7 blood metals (cadmium [Cd], lead [Pb], mercury [Hg], manganese[Mn]), copper [Cu], selenium [Se], and zinc [Zn]) with the risk of stroke among 11803 U.S. adults. Logistic regression account for the intricate sampling design and restricted cubic spline (RCS) was used to explore the associations between single heavy metal and stroke risk. The weighted quantile sum (WQS) and quantile g-computation (qgcomp) were employed to explore the joint effects of seven metals on stroke.Potential confounders were adjusted. Results: After adjusting for the potential confounders, the logistic regression analysis showed the log-transformed Cd and Zn level was associated with stroke (All P<0.05). After adjusting for the potential confounders, the logistic regression analysis showed the log-transformed Cd and Zn level was associated with stroke (All P<0.05). WQS and qgcomp analyses consistently demonstrated a positive correlation between metals-mixed exposure and stroke risk, identifying Cd and Cu as key contributors to the outcomes, while Zn may serve as a protective factor. Conclusion: These findings indicated that heavy metal exposure is associated with stroke risk, and the protective effect of Zn on stroke risk deserves further research to verify.
Keywords: heavy metals, Stroke, Joint effect, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey American, Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black, Non-Hispanic Asian, Other, Exposure
Received: 07 Nov 2024; Accepted: 24 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Huang, Wu and Lu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yan Lu, Suzhou Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Suzhou, 215002, Jiangsu Province, China
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