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Blood Cadmium Level Associates with Lower Testosterone and Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin in Chinese men: from SPECT-China Study, 2014

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Abstract

Cadmium is a widespread environmental pollutant. We aimed to determine whether blood cadmium level (BCL) associates with reproductive hormones in a cross-sectional study. Our data were from SPECT-China. We selected 5690 participants (2286 men and 3404 women), aged 18 years and older, among whom 1589 were postmenopausal women. BCL, blood lead level, total testosterone (TT), estradiol (E2), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone were measured. Results showed that BCL was significantly higher in men (median 1.90μg/L) than that in women (median 1.56μg/L). The median level of cadmium in postmenopausal women was 1.40μg/L. In men, BCL was negatively correlated with TT (Spearmen coefficient = −0.057, P < 0.01) and SHBG (Spearmen coefficient = −0.098, P < 0.01), but in postmenopausal women, this correlation was not observed. In linear regression, after full adjustment for blood lead level, age, body mass index, residence area, economic status, and smoking, TT and SHBG were still negatively associated with BCL in men. Additionally, the association between BCL and TT levels was modified by BMI group (P for interaction = 0.041). However, from base model to fully adjusted model, BCL was not associated with TT and E2 in postmenopausal women. In conclusion, men had higher BCL than women in China, and BCL was associated with TT and SHBG in Chinese men, which may have important implications for male reproductive health. Concerted efforts are warranted to reduce adult cadmium exposure.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81270885, 81070677), Clinical Potential Subject Construction of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine (2014), Ministry of Science and Technology in China (2012CB524906), Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (14495810700), and fund for outstanding academic leaders in Shanghai (12XD1403100).

The authors thank Weiping Tu, Bin Li, and Ling Hu for helping organize this investigation.

The authors also thank all the team members and participants from Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi Province in the SPECT-China study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute and Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China

    Chi Chen, Ningjian Wang, Xiaomin Nie, Bing Han, Qin Li, Yi Chen, Hualing Zhai, Chunfang Zhu, Yingchao Chen, Fangzhen Xia, Meng Lu, Dongping Lin & Yingli Lu

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  1. Chi Chen
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  2. Ningjian Wang
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  3. Xiaomin Nie
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  13. Yingli Lu
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Correspondence to Yingli Lu.

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The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine. All participants provided written informed consent before data collection.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Chi Chen and Ningjian Wang have contributed equally to this work.

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Chen, C., Wang, N., Nie, X. et al. Blood Cadmium Level Associates with Lower Testosterone and Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin in Chinese men: from SPECT-China Study, 2014. Biol Trace Elem Res 171, 71–78 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-015-0526-x

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