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Analysis of Threshold Effect of Urinary Heavy Metal Elements on the High Prevalence of Nephrolithiasis in Men

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Abstract

Exposure to heavy metals in the environment exerts serious effects on kidney health. However, the effects of joint exposure on the kidneys have been rarely studied, particularly in non-occupational exposure high-risk populations. This study provided a reference threshold range of heavy metals in urine and explored the effect of joint exposure on nephrolithiasis in men. The data were obtained from the China Multi-Ethnic Cohort database, and 1502 men were included in the study. A two-piece-wise regression model was used to assess the dose–response relationship between heavy metal exposure and nephrolithiasis. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression model was used to calculate the score of joint exposure to heavy metals. The threshold effect analysis revealed a linear relationship between the concentration of arsenic (As) in the urine and the prevalence of nephrolithiasis, whereas a nonlinear relationship was observed with cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb). In addition, As, Cd, Cr, Hg, and Pb may significantly affect the joint exposure effect. Moreover, the final risk of nephrolithiasis increased by 123% (P for trend < 0.001). This study found a threshold relationship between heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb) in male urine and the occurrence of nephrolithiasis. Joint exposure to heavy metals in urine caused a high-risk effect on nephrolithiasis. The study provided a reference threshold value of related studies and indicated that environmental pollution caused by heavy metals should be reduced.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, University Town Hospital of Gui’an New District, Guizhou Province, and the Guiyang Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (NO.2017YFC0907301), the Science and Technology Support Plan of Science and Technology Department of Guizhou Province ([2018] No.5403), Guizhou Province Graduate Research Fund Project, Qianjiaohe YJSCXJH [2019] 076, and First-Class Discipline Construction Project in Guizhou Province-Public Health and Preventive Medicine (No. 2017[85]).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, the Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550025, China

    Yalan Liu, Cailiang Zhang, Zixiu Qin, Qianyuan Yang & Feng Hong

  2. Guiyang City Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guizhou, 550003, China

    Juan Lei

  3. University Town Hospital, Gui’an New District, Guizhou, 550025, China

    Xuejie Tang & Qiaorong Wang

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Contributions

YL prepared the data, conducted the analysis, and drafted and revised the manuscript. CZ and QY conducted the experiments. ZQ, JL, XT, and QW provided technical support and contributed to the project. FH monitored all aspects of research implementation and contributed to the writing of the manuscript. All authors approved the final version.

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Correspondence to Feng Hong.

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This study was approved by the Sichuan University Medical Ethical Review Board (K2016038) and the Medical Ethics Committee of the Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University (2018[094]).

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Liu, Y., Zhang, C., Qin, Z. et al. Analysis of Threshold Effect of Urinary Heavy Metal Elements on the High Prevalence of Nephrolithiasis in Men. Biol Trace Elem Res 200, 1078–1088 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-021-02740-z

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