Blood cadmium and volume of uterine fibroids in premenopausal women

• Published in: Annals of occupational and environmental medicine Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 22 - 8
• Main Authors: Ye, Shinhee, Chung, Hye Won, Jeong, Kyungah, Sung, Yeon-Ah, Lee, Hyejin, Park, So Yun, Kim, Hyunjoo, Ha, Eun-Hee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central 22.06.2017; BioMed Central Ltd; XMLink, Co; Korean Society of Occupational & Environmental Medicine; 대한직업환경의학회
• Subjects: Blood; Blood levels; Cadmium; Care and treatment; Development and progression; Estrogens; Fibroids; Health aspects; Health risk assessment; Heavy metals; Hysterectomy; Lead; Lead content; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Menopause; Mercury; Mercury (metal); Metal concentrations; Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine; Premenopausal women; Public Health; Regression analysis; Research Article; Statistical analysis; Studies; Ultrasonic imaging; Ultrasound; Uterine fibroids; Uterus; 예방의학; Premenopausal women; Uterine fibroids; Heavy metals
• ISSN: 2052-4374; 2052-4374
• DOI: 10.1186/s40557-017-0178-8

Background A number of studies have found associations between heavy metals and uterine fibroids, but the results are inconsistent. Here, we conducted this research to demonstrate the relationships between blood heavy metal concentrations and uterine fibroid volume as well as the rate of uterine fibroid presence. Methods In a cross-sectional study, we collected data from 308 premenopausal women aged 30–49 years in Seoul; uterine fibroids are ascertained by past history of myomectomy and pelvic ultrasonography. In the analytic phase, we first analyzed the presence of the fibroids and the concentrations of heavy metals via logistic regression. In subgroup analysis, we used simple and multiple linear regression analyses to examine the associations between heavy metals and uterine fibroid volume. Results There was no connection between the heavy metal concentrations and the presence of uterine fibroids, but the odds of women having fibroids were higher with three particular metals. In subgroup analysis, the association between blood cadmium concentrations and uterine fibroid volume was statistically significant (adjusted beta coefficient = 2.22, 95% confidential interval: 0.06–4.37). In contrast, blood mercury and lead concentrations were not significantly associated with uterine fibroid volume. Conclusions Our findings are the first that we know to report the association of blood cadmium concentrations with the volume of uterine fibroids. We expect that our findings will be used as evidence for supporting policies to improve premenopausal Korean women’s health.