Association between body mass index and arsenic methylation efficiency in adult women from southwest U.S. and northwest Mexico

Journal Article · Fri Apr 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.taap.2011.02.007· OSTI ID:21535271

Gomez-Rubio, Paulina ^[1]; Roberge, Jason; Arendell, Leslie; Harris, Robin B; O'Rourke, Mary K; Chen, Zhao ^[2]; Cantu-Soto, Ernesto; Meza-Montenegro, Maria M ^[3]; Billheimer, Dean ^[4]; Zhenqiang, Lu ^[5]

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1. Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
2. Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
3. Department of Environmental Sciences, Instituto Tecnologico de Sonora, Ciudad Obregon, Sonora (Mexico)
4. Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
5. Arizona Statistical Consulting Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)

Human arsenic methylation efficiency has been consistently associated with arsenic-induced disease risk. Interindividual variation in arsenic methylation profiles is commonly observed in exposed populations, and great effort has been put into the study of potential determinants of this variability. Among the factors that have been evaluated, body mass index (BMI) has not been consistently associated with arsenic methylation efficiency; however, an underrepresentation of the upper BMI distribution was commonly observed in these studies. This study investigated potential factors contributing to variations in the metabolism of arsenic, with specific interest in the effect of BMI where more than half of the population was overweight or obese. We studied 624 adult women exposed to arsenic in drinking water from three independent populations. Multivariate regression models showed that higher BMI, arsenic (+ 3 oxidation state) methyltransferase (AS3MT) genetic variant 7388, and higher total urinary arsenic were significantly associated with low percentage of urinary arsenic excreted as monomethylarsonic acid (%uMMA) or high ratio between urinary dimethylarsinic acid and uMMA (uDMA/uMMA), while AS3MT genetic variant M287T was associated with high %uMMA and low uDMA/uMMA. The association between BMI and arsenic methylation efficiency was also evident in each of the three populations when studied separately. This strong association observed between high BMI and low %uMMA and high uDMA/uMMA underscores the importance of BMI as a potential arsenic-associated disease risk factor, and should be carefully considered in future studies associating human arsenic metabolism and toxicity.

• OSTI ID: 21535271
• Journal Information: Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, Journal Name: Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 252; ISSN TXAPA9; ISSN 0041-008X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
ADULTS
AGE GROUPS
ANIMALS
ARSENIC
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
DISEASES
DRINKING WATER
EFFICIENCY
ELEMENTS
FEMALES
HAZARDS
HUMAN POPULATIONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LATIN AMERICA
MAMMALS
MAN
MATHEMATICS
METABOLISM
METHYLATION
MEXICO
MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS
NORTH AMERICA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POPULATIONS
PRIMATES
SEMIMETALS
STATISTICS
TOXICITY
VERTEBRATES
WATER
WOMEN