Epigenetic biomarkers of lead exposure and cardiovascular disease: prospective evidence in the Strong Heart Study
Year: 2022
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: BACKGROUND AND AIM: Lead is a cardiotoxic metal associated with adverse health effects. Data on lead exposure, however, is difficult to collect and often missing from population-based studies of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and risk factors. In the absence of lead data, epigenetic biomarkers can serve as indicators of lead exposure. Here, we leveraged novel epigenetic biomarkers of lead exposure to investigate their association with CVD incidence and mortality in the Strong Heart Study (SHS), a study of CVD in American Indian adults. METHODS: Blood DNA methylation was measured using the Illumina MethylationEPIC BeadChip among 2,231 SHS participants at baseline (1989-1991). Epigenetic biomarkers of lead concentrations in blood, patella, and tibia were estimated using previously identified CpG sites developed in the Normative Aging Study, a study of aging in adult men. Cox proportional hazards models were performed to estimate the risk of incident CVD and CVD mortality. RESULTS: Median concentrations of lead epigenetic biomarkers were 13.8 µg/g, 21.3 µg/g, and 2.9 µg/dL in tibia, patella, and blood. In fully adjusted models, the hazard ratio (HR) (95% CI) of CVD mortality per doubling increase in lead epigenetic biomarkers were 1.42 (1.07-1.87) for tibia lead, 1.22 (0.93-1.60) for patella lead, and 1.57 (1.16-2.11) for blood lead. The HRs for incident CVD were 0.99 (0.83-1.19), 1.07 (0.89-1.29), and 1.06 (0.87-1.30), respectively. The association between the tibia lead epigenetic biomarker and CVD mortality was modified by sex (interaction p-value: 0.014), with men at increased risk (1.42, 1.17-1.72) compared to women (1.04, 0.89-1.22). CONCLUSIONS: Tibia and blood epigenetic biomarkers were associated with increased risk of CVD mortality, potentially reflecting the cardiovascular impact of cumulative and recent lead exposures. These findings support that these epigenetic biomarkers may capture some of the CVD disease risk associated with lead exposure. KEYWORDS: lead, epigenetic biomarkers, DNA-methylation, American Indians, cardiovascular disease.
Source: ISEE Conference Abstracts
Institutions: Columbia University, Universitat de València, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro Nacional de Epidemiología, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Peking University, Government of the Republic of China
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4317181625