Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Julia E. Heck, MPH, MPhil¹, Jeri Nieves, PhD², Yu Chen, PhD, MPH³, Joseph Graziano, PhD⁴, and Habibul Ahsan, MBBS, MMedSc². (1) Epidemiology, ISERP Graduate Fellow, Columbia University, 270 International Affairs Bldg, MC3355, 420 W 118th St., New York, NY 10027, 212-854-6713, jeh61@columbia.edu, (2) Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, Helen Hayes Hospital Rt 9W, West Haverstraw, NY 10993, (3) Department of Environmental Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, 650 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016, (4) Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University, 60 Haven Ave B-1, New York, NY 10032

Background: Experimental evidence supports that dietary protein and amino acids can be protective against skin lesions caused by arsenic exposure, but epidemiologic research in humans has found mixed results. The purpose of this study was to examine whether consumption of protein, methionine, and cystine protects against skin lesions among Bangladeshis exposed to arsenic.

Methods: Subjects in this cross-sectional analysis included 11,170 Bangladeshis enrolled in the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study. Subjects completed a food frequency questionnaire that had been developed for the study, and underwent examination by a physician to determine the presence of skin lesions. Nutrient composition was ascertained by using the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. We compared cases and controls with regards to demographic and dietary variables and examined predictors of skin lesions using multiple logistic regression, while controlling for age, sex, occupation, education, socioeconomic status, smoking, arsenic exposure, and intake of folate, iron, serine, and vitamin B6.

Results: Out of 11170 subjects, we identified 679 cases of skin lesions (6.1%). After adjustment for potential confounders, there were significantly greater odds ratios for skin lesions among those at the lowest quintile of methionine (adjusted Odds Ratio=1.51, 95% CI: 1.15-1.99) and cystine (adjusted OR=1.42, 95% CI: 1.09-1.85) intakes, while there was a trend towards protein (adjusted OR=1.28, 95% CI: 0.99-1.65) having a protective effect.

Conclusion: Our results support the importance of sulfur amino acids in arsenic detoxification. Dietary supplementation may be warranted to reduce the health effects of arsenic in this population.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe protein. methionine and cystine intakes in Bangladesh
• Learn about potential nutritional prevention of arsenic-related health outcomes

Keywords: Food and Nutrition, International Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No