Cadmium in blood, urine and hair related to human hypertension.

A case-control study was performed to assess whether cadmium is related to hypertension in a non-occupationally exposed population. 63 male subjects affected by mild stable hypertension, pharmacologically untreated, were investigated together with 63 male normotensive controls individually matched for sex, age, body mass index, smoking habits and work activities. Cadmium in blood, zinc and copper in serum, the three elements in urine and hair, together with some biological parameters involved in pathogenesis of hypertension, were investigated. The mean Cd blood value in hypertensives (H) was 0.58 micrograms/L vs 0.44 micrograms/L in normotensives (N) (t = 2.03; p less than 0.05) with a greater difference in non-smokers (0.41 micrograms/L vs 0.25 micrograms/L) (t = 2.69, p less than 0.01). Furthermore, both systolic and diastolic blood pressure were significantly related to cadmium blood levels (r = 0.20 and 0.19 respectively, p less than 0.05). Smoking habit affected cadmium levels only in the blood, not in the other biological matrices examined. No significant difference of cadmium content in urine and hair was found between normotensives and hypertensives but Cd/Cu ratio in urine was significantly lowered in the second group.