Center for Clinical Single-Cell Biomedicine, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450003, China.
College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China.
Nutrients. 2023 Jun 25;15(13):2874. doi: 10.3390/nu15132874.
The way that males and females react to environmental exposures and negative impacts on their neurological systems is often different. Although previous research has examined the cognitively impairing effects of solitary metal exposures, the relationship between metal mixtures and cognitive function, particularly when considering an individual's sex, remains elusive. This study aimed to investigate the sex differences in the association between multiple metal combinations and cognitive function in older Americans. This research employed the 2011-2014 NHANES survey of elderly Americans. The association between five mixed metals and four cognitive tests (the animal fluency test (AFT), the digit symbol substitution test (DSST), the instant recall test (IRT), and the delayed recall test (DRT)) were investigated with generalized linear regression model (GLM), Bayesian kernel machine regression model (BKMR), weighted quantile sum regression model (WQS), and quantile g-computation regression model (Qgcomp). A total of 1833 people, including 883 males and 950 females, enrolled in this cross-sectional study. We discovered that blood lead and blood cadmium were negatively associated with cognitive performance, while blood selenium demonstrated a positive association with cognitive function in older people. The negative relationship of heavy metal combinations on cognitive function might be somewhat reduced or even reversed via selenium. The IRT, AFT, and DSST are three of the four cognitive tests where men had more dramatic positive or negative results. There was a sex-specific connection between blood metal ratios and cognitive function among older Americans, as evidenced by the more significant relationship between mixed metals and cognitive performance in men (either positively or negatively). These results emphasize the impacts of ambient heavy metal exposure on cognitive function by employing sex-specific methods.
男性和女性对环境暴露和神经系统负面影响的反应方式往往不同。尽管先前的研究已经检查了单一金属暴露对认知的损害作用，但金属混合物与认知功能之间的关系，尤其是当考虑个体的性别时，仍然难以捉摸。本研究旨在调查多种金属组合与老年美国人认知功能之间关联的性别差异。本研究采用了 2011-2014 年美国老年人 NHANES 调查。使用广义线性回归模型 (GLM)、贝叶斯核机器回归模型 (BKMR)、加权分位数总和回归模型 (WQS) 和分位数 g 计算回归模型 (Qgcomp) 研究了五种混合金属与四项认知测试（动物流畅性测试 (AFT)、数字符号替代测试 (DSST)、即时回忆测试 (IRT) 和延迟回忆测试 (DRT)) 之间的关联。共有 1833 人参加了这项横断面研究，其中包括 883 名男性和 950 名女性。我们发现血铅和血镉与认知表现呈负相关，而血硒与老年人的认知功能呈正相关。重金属组合对认知功能的负面影响可能会因硒而有所减轻甚至逆转。IRT、AFT 和 DSST 是四项认知测试中的三项，其中男性的结果更为显著。美国老年人的血液金属比值与认知功能之间存在性别特异性联系，因为混合金属与男性认知表现之间的关系更为显著（无论是正面还是负面）。这些结果通过采用性别特异性方法强调了环境重金属暴露对认知功能的影响。
