From the Key Laboratory of Nutrition and Metabolism, Institute for Nutritional Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
J Epidemiol Community Health. 2016 May;70(5):437-43. doi: 10.1136/jech-2015-205994. Epub 2015 Nov 26.
High exposure to nickel could induce renal dysfunction in rodents and occupational workers. However, little is known about the effects of non-occupational exposure to nickel on renal health in the general population. We aimed to examine the associations of urinary nickel concentrations with albuminuria and β2-microglobulinuria in Chinese adults.
2115 non-institutionalised Chinese men and women aged 55-76 years from Beijing and Shanghai were included. Urinary nickel concentrations were assessed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. Plasma uric acid, urea nitrogen, C reactive protein and urinary albumin, β2-microglobulin and creatinine were measured. Albuminuria was defined as urinary albumin ≥30 mg/g creatinine, and β2-microglobulinuria was defined as urinary β2-microglobulin ≥200 µg/g creatinine.
Median concentration of urinary nickel was 3.95 μg/g creatinine (IQR: 2.57-6.71 μg/g creatinine), and prevalence of albuminuria, β2-microglobulinuria and both albuminuria and β2-microglobulinuria was 22.1%, 24.5% and 9.7%, respectively. Comparing the highest with the lowest quartile of urinary nickel, the ORs (95% CIs) were 1.99 (1.46 to 2.78) for albuminuria, 1.44 (1.07 to 1.95) for β2-microglobulinuria, and 2.95 (1.74 to 4.97) for both albuminuria and β2-microglobulinuria, after adjustment for demographic characteristics, lifestyle behaviours, body mass index, hypertension and diabetes. The association remained significant when further controlling for inflammatory markers or other heavy metals (all p trend <0.05).
This study suggested that urinary nickel levels were positively associated with albuminuria and β2-microglobulinuria in Chinese men and women, who had relatively low background nickel exposure. More prospective studies are needed to confirm our findings.
高浓度的镍可诱发啮齿类动物和职业工人的肾功能障碍。然而，对于一般人群中非职业性镍暴露对肾脏健康的影响知之甚少。我们旨在研究中国成年人尿镍浓度与白蛋白尿和β2-微球蛋白尿的相关性。
本研究纳入了来自北京和上海的 2115 名非住院的 55-76 岁中国男性和女性。采用电感耦合等离子体质谱法检测尿镍浓度。检测了血浆尿酸、尿素氮、C 反应蛋白和尿白蛋白、β2-微球蛋白和肌酐。白蛋白尿定义为尿白蛋白≥30mg/g 肌酐，β2-微球蛋白尿定义为尿β2-微球蛋白≥200μg/g 肌酐。
尿镍浓度的中位数为 3.95μg/g 肌酐（IQR：2.57-6.71μg/g 肌酐），白蛋白尿、β2-微球蛋白尿和两者均有的患病率分别为 22.1%、24.5%和 9.7%。与尿镍最低四分位数相比，最高四分位数的尿镍浓度与白蛋白尿、β2-微球蛋白尿和两者均有的比值比（95%置信区间）分别为 1.99（1.46-2.78）、1.44（1.07-1.95）和 2.95（1.74-4.97），校正了人口统计学特征、生活方式行为、体重指数、高血压和糖尿病后，差异仍有统计学意义（所有 P 趋势<0.05）。当进一步控制炎症标志物或其他重金属时，相关性仍然显著（均 P 趋势<0.05）。
本研究表明，在中国男性和女性中，尿镍水平与白蛋白尿和β2-微球蛋白尿呈正相关，而这些人群的背景镍暴露相对较低。需要更多的前瞻性研究来证实我们的发现。
