Dataset Information

Prevalence of arsenic exposure and skin lesions. A population based survey in Matlab, Bangladesh.

ABSTRACT:

Study objective

To assess prevalence of arsenic exposure through drinking water and skin lesions, and their variation by geographical area, age, sex, and socioeconomic conditions.

Design, setting, and participants

Skin lesion cases were identified by screening the entire population above 4 years of age (n = 166,934) living in Matlab, a rural area in Bangladesh, during January 2002 and August 2003. The process of case identification involved initial skin examinations in the field, followed by verification by physicians in a clinic, and final confirmation by two independent experts reviewing photographs. The tubewell water arsenic concentrations (n = 13,286) were analysed by atomic absorption spectrometry. Drinking water history since 1970 was obtained for each person. Exposure information was constructed using drinking water histories and data on water arsenic concentrations.

Main results

The arsenic concentrations ranged from <1 to 3644 microg/l, and more than 70% of functioning tubewells exceeded the World Health Organisation guideline of 10 microg/l. Arsenic exposure had increased steadily from 1970s to the late 1990s, afterwards a decrease could be noted. In total, 504 skin lesions cases were identified, and the overall crude prevalence was 3/1000. Women had significantly higher cumulative exposure to arsenic, while men had significantly higher prevalence of skin lesions (SMR 158, 95% CI 133 to 188). The highest prevalence occurred in 35-44 age groups for both sexes. Arsenic exposure and skin lesions had a positive association with socioeconomic groups and achieved educational level.

Conclusions

The result showed sex, age, and socioeconomic differentials in both exposure and skin lesions. Findings clearly showed the urgency of effective arsenic mitigation activities.

SUBMITTER: Rahman M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2465558 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Prevalence of arsenic exposure and skin lesions. A population based survey in Matlab, Bangladesh.

Rahman Mahfuzar M Vahter Marie M Wahed Mohammad Abdul MA Sohel Nazmul N Yunus Mohammad M Streatfield Peter Kim PK El Arifeen Shams S Bhuiya Abbas A Zaman Khalequz K Chowdhury A Mushtaq R AM Ekström Eva-Charlotte EC Persson Lars Ake LA

Journal of epidemiology and community health 20060301 3

<h4>Study objective</h4>To assess prevalence of arsenic exposure through drinking water and skin lesions, and their variation by geographical area, age, sex, and socioeconomic conditions.<h4>Design, setting, and participants</h4>Skin lesion cases were identified by screening the entire population above 4 years of age (n = 166,934) living in Matlab, a rural area in Bangladesh, during January 2002 and August 2003. The process of case identification involved initial skin examinations in the field, ...[more]

PMID: 16476755

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Project description:BackgroundArsenic in drinking water was associated with increased risk of all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular death in adults. However, the extent to which exposure is related to all-cause and deaths from cancer and cardiovascular condition in young age is unknown. Therefore, we prospectively assessed whether long-term and recent arsenic exposures are associated with all-cause and cancer and cardiovascular mortalities in Bangladeshi childhood population.Methods and findingsWe assembled a cohort of 58406 children aged 5-18 years from the Health and Demographic Surveillance System of icddrb in Bangladesh and followed during 2003-2010. There were 185 non-accidental deaths registered in-about 0.4 million person-years of observation. We calculated hazard ratios for cause-specific death in relation to exposure at baseline (µg/L), time-weighted lifetime average (µg/L) and cumulative concentration (µg-years/L). After adjusting covariates, hazard ratios (HRs) for all-cause childhood deaths comparing lifetime average exposure 10-50.0, 50.1-150.0, 150.1-300.0 and ?300.1µg/L were 1.37 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.74-2.57), 1.44 (95% CI, 0.88-2.38), 1.22 (95% CI, 0.75-1.98) and 1.88 (95% CI, 1.14-3.10) respectively. Significant increased risk was also observed for baseline (P for trend?=?0.023) and cumulative exposure categories (P for trend?=?0.036). Girls had higher mortality risk compared to boys (HR for girls 1.79, 1.21, 1.64, 2.31; HR for boys 0.52, 0.53, 1.14, 0.99) in relation to baseline exposure. For all cancers and cardiovascular deaths combined, multivariable adjusted HRs amounted to 1.53 (95% CI 0.51-4.57); 1.29 (95% CI 0.43-3.87); 2.18 (95%CI 1.15-4.16) for 10.0-50.0, 50.1-150.0, and ?150.1, comparing lowest exposure as reference (P for trend?=?0.009). Adolescents had higher mortality risk compared to children (HRs?=?1.53, 95% CI 1.03-2.28 vs. HRs?=?1.30, 95% CI 0.78-2.17).ConclusionsArsenic exposure was associated with substantial increased risk of deaths at young age from all-cause, and cancers and cardiovascular conditions. Girls and adolescents (12-18 years) had higher risk compared to boys and child.

Project description:As a nonmutagenic human carcinogen, arsenic (As)'s carcinogenic activity is likely the result of epigenetic changes, particularly alterations in DNA methylation. While increasing studies indicate a potentially important role for timing of As exposure on DNA methylation patterns and the subsequent differential risks for As toxicity and carcinogenesis, there is a lack of research that tackles these critical questions, particularly in human based populations. Here we reported a family-based study including three generations, in which each generation living in the same household had a distinctive timing of As exposure: in adulthood, in utero and during early childhood, and in germlines exposure for grandparents, parents, and grandchildren, respectively. We generated genome-wide DNA methylation data for 18 As-exposed families, nine control families, as well as 18 arsenical skin lesion patients. Our analysis showed that As exposure may leave detectable DNA methylation changes even though exposure occurred decades ago, and the most significant changes of global DNA methylation were observed among patients afflicted with arsenical skin lesions. As exposure across generations shared common differentially methylated DNA loci and regions (744 DML and 15 DMRs) despite the distinctive exposure timing in each generation. Importantly, based on these DML, clustering analysis grouped skin lesion patients together with grandparents in exposed families in the same cluster, separated from grandparents in control families. Further analysis identified a number of DML and several molecular pathways that were significantly distinguished between controls, exposed populations, as well as skin lesion patients. Finally, our exploratory analysis suggested that some of these DML altered by As exposure, may have the potential to be inherited affecting not only those directly exposed but also later generations. Together, our results suggest that common DML and/or DMRs associated with an increased risk for disease development could be identified regardless of when exposure to As occurred during their life span, and thus may be able to serve as biomarkers for identifying individuals at risk for As-induced skin lesions and possible cancers.

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Project description:Background: Arsenic has antimicrobial properties at high doses yet few studies have examined its effect on gut microbiota. This warrants investigation since arsenic exposure increases the risk of many diseases in which gut microbiota have been shown to play a role. We examined the association between arsenic exposure from drinking water and the composition of intestinal microbiota in children exposed to low and high arsenic levels during prenatal development and early life.Results: 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that children with high arsenic exposure had a higher abundance of Proteobacteria in their stool compared to matched controls with low arsenic exposure. Furthermore, whole metagenome shotgun sequencing identified 332 bacterial SEED functions that were enriched in the high exposure group. A separate model showed that these genes, which included genes involved in virulence and multidrug resistance, were positively correlated with arsenic concentration within the group of children in the high arsenic group. We performed reference free genome assembly, and identified strains of E.coli as contributors to the arsenic enriched SEED functions. Further genome annotation of the E.coli genome revealed two strains containing two different arsenic resistance operons that are not present in the gut microbiome of a recently described European human cohort (Metagenomics of the Human Intestinal Tract, MetaHIT). We then performed quantification by qPCR of two arsenic resistant genes (ArsB, ArsC). We observed that the expression of these two operons was higher among the children with high arsenic exposure compared to matched controls.Conclusions: This preliminary study indicates that arsenic exposure early in life was associated with altered gut microbiota in Bangladeshi children. The enrichment of E.coli arsenic resistance genes in the high exposure group provides an insight into the possible mechanisms of how this toxic compound could affect gut microbiota.

Dataset Information

Prevalence of arsenic exposure and skin lesions. A population based survey in Matlab, Bangladesh.

Study objective

Design, setting, and participants

Main results

Conclusions

Publications

Prevalence of arsenic exposure and skin lesions. A population based survey in Matlab, Bangladesh.

Similar Datasets

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