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Multi-element Exposure and Cognitive Function in Rural Elderly Chinese

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Abstract

To investigate the relationship between selenium (Se) based multi-element combined exposure and cognitive function in rural elderly individuals, a cross-sectional study was conducted. The study involved 416 older adults aged 60 and above, residing in four different areas of Enshi county, China, with varying soil Se levels. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was employed to measure the concentrations of Se, copper (Cu), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), and lead (Pb) in whole blood. Nine standard cognitive tests were applied to assess cognitive function. Analysis of the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression (LASSO), covariance (ANCOVA), and generalized linear model (GLM) were utilized to investigate the relationship between element exposure and cognitive function. The results of LASSO revealed that Se, Cu, Fe, Zn, Ca, and Pb were independently identified to be associated with cognition. Both ANCOVA and GLM demonstrated that Se and Ca were correlated with cognitive function. The multi-element model showed higher composite Z scores of 0.32 (95% CI: 0.09 to 0.55) for log-transformed Se (P = 0.007), 0.75 (95% CI: 0.01 to 1.49) for log-transformed Cu (P = 0.048), and a lower score of − 0.67 (95% CI: − 1.26 to − 0.08) for log-transformed Ca (P = 0.025). Furthermore, there was evidence that Se could counteract the negative impact of Ca on cognitive function (P for interaction = 0.031). Our findings suggested that higher levels of Se and Cu were associated with better cognitive function in the elderly and Se can counteract the cognitive damage caused by Ca.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grants from National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC1801102), the Key Laboratory of Trace Element and Nutrition, National Health Commission of China (WLKFZ202201) and the National Institutes of Health of USA (R01AG019181). The authors express thanks to all the involved staff from the Chinese local cooperative hospitals and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for their efforts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. China CDC Key Laboratory of Environment and Population Health, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100050, China

    Lidan Duan, Liqin Su, Ning Xu, Ranqi Shao & Yinlong Jin

  2. Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, 410000, China

    Lidan Duan & Yanying Duan

  3. Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Enshi, 445000, China

    Xiaohong He, Rangpeng Wu & Yunfeng Zhu

  4. Shenzhen Academy of Metrology & Quality Inspection, Shenzhen, 518000, China

    Yegang Du

  5. Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Frederick W. Unverzagt

  6. Department of Neurology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Ann M. Hake

  7. Department of Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Sujuan Gao

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  1. Lidan Duan
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Contributions

Lidan Duan: data curation, software, formal analysis, and writing—original draft. Liqin Su: conceptualization, funding acquisition, project administration, and writing—review and editing. Xiaohong He: investigation and data curation. Yegang Du: investigation and data curation. Yanying Duan: data curation, methodology, and writing—original draft. Ning Xu: investigation and data curation. Rangpeng Wu: investigation and data curation. Yunfeng Zhu: investigation and data curation. Ranqi Shao: data curation and validation. Frederick W Unverzagt: resources and supervision. Ann M. Hake: resources and supervision. Yinlong Jin: funding acquisition, resources, and project administration. Sujuan Gao: funding acquisition, resources, and project administration.

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Duan, L., Su, L., He, X. et al. Multi-element Exposure and Cognitive Function in Rural Elderly Chinese. Biol Trace Elem Res 202, 1401–1410 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-023-03774-1

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