Association between cadmium exposure and the risk of cardiovascular outcomes: a meta-analysis

Abstract

The association between Cadmium (Cd) exposure and the risk of cardiovascular outcomes is still inconclusive. This meta-analysis was performed based on PECO questions (P = general population; E = Q1 Cd levels in the specimen; C = Cd levels exceeding Q1; O = cardiovascular outcomes). 1231 articles were retrieved by using search terms of cadmium and cardiovascular outcomes in PubMed, Cochrane, and Web of Science. 21 articles were included in this meta-analysis according to the PRISMA statement. Begg’s tests were used to evaluate publication bias, and there was no publication bias in studies of Cd on acute myocardial infarction (AMI) (p = .85), cardiovascular disease (CVD) (p = .05), heart disease (HD) (p = .57) and stroke (p = .14). Cd exposure increased the risk of cardiovascular outcomes including CVD (RR = 1.36, 95% Cl: 1.22–1.50), HD (RR = 1.73, 95% Cl: 1.39–2.08) and stroke (RR = 1.28, 95% Cl: 1.10–1.46). This meta-analysis indicated that Cd exposure might correlate with the occurrence of cardiovascular outcomes positively. Therefore, reducing Cd emissions to the environment or reducing the environmental intake of Cd is crucial for cardiovascular protection.

KEYWORDS:

• Cadmium
• cardiovascular outcomes
• risk assessment
• meta-analysis
• toxic effect

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Data availability statement

Data, associated metadata, and calculation tools are also available from the corresponding author ([email protected]).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Promote scientific research cooperation and high-level talent training projects with Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Latin America in 2021(109) of China Scholarship Council. Scientific Research Fund of Liaoning Provincial Education Department (No. LJKZ0090). Program for Liaoning Innovative Talents in University (No. LD2020002).

Notes on contributors

Mingyang Fu

Mingyang Fu: Writing-original draft. Ziqi Ren: Formal analysis. Jianli Liu: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition; Yin He: Software. Chengying Liu: Methodology. Yanmei Li: Visualization. Xiangyu Cao: Conceptualization; Funding acquisition. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.