Mercury, Fish Oils, and the Risk of Myocardial Infarction
Year: 2002
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that mercury, a highly reactive heavy metal with no known physiologic activity, increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Because fish intake is a major source of exposure to mercury, the mercury content of fish may counteract the beneficial effects of its n-3 fatty acids. METHODS: In a case-control study conducted in eight European countries and Israel, we evaluated the joint association of mercury levels in toenail clippings and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6n-3, or DHA) levels in adipose tissue with the risk of a first myocardial infarction among men. The patients were 684 men with a first diagnosis of myocardial infarction. The controls were 724 men selected to be representative of the same populations. RESULTS: The average toenail mercury level in controls was 0.25 microg per gram. After adjustment for the DHA level and coronary risk factors, the mercury levels in the patients were 15 percent higher than those in controls (95 percent confidence interval, 5 to 25 percent). The risk-factor-adjusted odds ratio for myocardial infarction associated with the highest as compared with the lowest quintile of mercury was 2.16 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.09 to 4.29; P for trend=0.006). After adjustment for the mercury level, the DHA level was inversely associated with the risk of myocardial infarction (odds ratio for the highest vs. the lowest quintile, 0.59; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.30 to 1.19; P for trend=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: The toenail mercury level was directly associated with the risk of myocardial infarction, and the adipose-tissue DHA level was inversely associated with the risk. High mercury content may diminish the cardioprotective effect of fish intake.
Source: New England Journal of Medicine
DOI: 10.1056/nejmoa020157
Institutions: Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Escuela Nacional de Sanidad, University of Edinburgh, Research Institute Hospital 12 de Octubre, Hospital Universitario 12 De Octubre, Wageningen University & Research, Delft University of Technology, Universidad de Málaga, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2064755830