Environmental Arsenic Exposure and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
type: CreativeWork
description: Background: Environmental exposure to inorganic arsenic (iAs), one of the most abundant elements in the earth’s crust, is widely recognised as a major global health risk – millions of people are estimated to be chronically exposed to arsenic worldwide. Yet, compared to arsenic-related cancer and skin lesions, research on arsenic-related cardiometabolic disease, particularly at lower exposure levels, has been limited. This PhD thesis aims to investigate the epidemiological relationship between chronic environmental arsenic exposure and several sub-types of cardiometabolic disease, with a primary focus on cardiovascular disease (CVD), specifically myocardial infarction (MI), as well as diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension. Data sources: Firstly, to explore the relationship between toenail arsenic (including arsenic metabolites and metabolism markers) with MI, the Bangladesh Risk of Acute Vascular Events (BRAVE) study, a case-control study of 1,532 MI cases and 1,334 controls, was used. Secondly, to explore the dose-response relationship between arsenic and several CVD endpoints, a systematic review and two-stage dose-response meta-analyses were performed on 35 studies. Thirdly, to assess the association of environmental arsenic exposure with two major CVD risk factors, diabetes mellitus and hypertension, a systematic review and two-stage dose-response meta-analyses were performed on 71 studies. Lastly, to explore whether genetic variation may be at least partially responsible for inter-individual variation in arsenic-related cardiometabolic disease susceptibility, a narrative systematic review on 14 unique candidate gene-environment (cGxE) studies reporting on 650 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 145 genes was used. Main results: In BRAVE, MI was positively associated with higher toenail monomethylated arsenic (MMA) in μg/g, higher MMA% and a higher primary methylation index (PMI) in both categorical and continuous logistic regression models, and negativel…
abstract: Background: Environmental exposure to inorganic arsenic (iAs), one of the most abundant elements in the earth’s crust, is widely recognised as a major global health risk – millions of people are estimated to be chronically exposed to arsenic worldwide. Yet, compared to arsenic-related cancer and skin lesions, research on arsenic-related cardiometabolic disease, particularly at lower exposure levels, has been limited. This PhD thesis aims to investigate the epidemiological relationship between chronic environmental arsenic exposure and several sub-types of cardiometabolic disease, with a primary focus on cardiovascular disease (CVD), specifically myocardial infarction (MI), as well as diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension. Data sources: Firstly, to explore the relationship between toenail arsenic (including arsenic metabolites and metabolism markers) with MI, the Bangladesh Risk of Acute Vascular Events (BRAVE) study, a case-control study of 1,532 MI cases and 1,334 controls, was used. Secondly, to explore the dose-response relationship between arsenic and several CVD endpoints, a systematic review and two-stage dose-response meta-analyses were performed on 35 studies. Thirdly, to assess the association of environmental arsenic exposure with two major CVD risk factors, diabetes mellitus and hypertension, a systematic review and two-stage dose-response meta-analyses were performed on 71 studies. Lastly, to explore whether genetic variation may be at least partially responsible for inter-individual variation in arsenic-related cardiometabolic disease susceptibility, a narrative systematic review on 14 unique candidate gene-environment (cGxE) studies reporting on 650 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 145 genes was used. Main results: In BRAVE, MI was positively associated with higher toenail monomethylated arsenic (MMA) in μg/g, higher MMA% and a higher primary methylation index (PMI) in both categorical and continuous logistic regression models, and negativel…
author: Van Daalen, Kim Robin
language: eng
keywords: Arsenic, Cardiovascular disease, Environmental pollution, Myocardial infarction, Toxic metals
license: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/cca4892b-54f3-4d32-a1e9-43d270385777/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2022-10-30
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:33:28Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.96950