Ingested Inorganic Arsenic and Prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

To examine the association between ingested inorganic arsenic and prevalence of diabetes mellitus, in 1988, the authors studied 891 adults residing in villages in southern Taiwan where arseniasis is hyperendemic. The status of diabetes mellitus was determined by an oral glucose tolerance test and a history of diabetes regularly treated with sulfonylurea or insulin. The cumulative arsenic exposure in parts per million-years was calculated from the detailed history of residential addresses and duration of drinking artesian well water obtained through standardized interviews based on a structured questionnaire and the arsenic concentration in well water. The body mass index was derived from body height and weight measured according to a standard protocol, while the physical activity at work was also obtained by questionnaire interviews. Residents in villages where the chronic arseniasis was hyperendemic had a twofold increase in age- and sex-adjusted prevalence of diabetes mellitus compared with residents in Taipei City and the Taiwan area. There was a dose-response relation between cumulative arsenic exposure and prevalence of diabetes mellitus. The relation remained significant after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, and activity level at work by a multiple logistic regression analysis giving a multivariate-adjusted odds ratio of 6.61 and 10.05, respectively, for those who had a cumulative arsenic exposure of 0.1-15.0 and greater than 15.0 ppm-year compared with those who were unexposed. These results suggest the chronic arsenic exposure may induce diabetes mellitus in humans.

Prevalence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and related vascular diseases in southwestern arseniasis-endemic and nonendemic areas in Taiwan.

“…This study confirmed the findings of our previous study (Lai et al 1994) in which the subjects in the arseniasis-endemic area had an elevated prevalence of diabetes compared with the nonendemic area (odds ratio = 2.7 after adjustment for age and sex). In this study we found that women tended to have a higher prevalence of diabetes than did men in the arseniasis-endemic area but not in the nonendemic area.…”

“…The associations between long-term exposure to arsenic and microvascular diseases, including renal disease, retinopathy, and neuropathy, remain to be elucidated. Epidemiologic studies have shown a dose-response relationship between arsenic in drinking water and prevalence and mortality of diabetes mellitus in southwestern Taiwan (Lai et al 1994;Tsai et al 1999). Similar findings have been reported in Sweden , Bangladesh (Rahman et al 1998), and the United States (Lewis 1999).…”

Spatial distributions of arsenic exposure and mining communities from NHEXAS Arizona

“…In addition to the increased health risks presented above, two research groups suggest that there may be associations between very high arsenic exposure and diabetes mellitus (Lai et al, 1994;Rahman and Axelson, 1995). This risk assessment survey identifies arsenic as a potential problem in some Arizona communities.…”

Examination of the effects of arsenic on glucose homeostasis in cell culture and animal studies: Development of a mouse model for arsenic-induced diabetes

“…Previous research of the effects of chronic exposure to iAs has focused primarily on its carcinogenic potential. However, chronic exposures to iAs from the environment or in occupational settings have also been linked to non-carcinogenic diseases, including peripheral vascular disease, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases Chen et al, 1996;Chiou et al, 1997;Engel et al, 1994;Thomas and Goyer, 1995;Tseng et al, 1995;Tseng et al, 1997), hypertension , goiter (Chang et al, 1991), hepatomegaly (Santra et al, 1999), respiratory system dysfunction (Mazumder et al, 2000), nervous system dysfunction (Bencko et al, 1977;Chisolm Jr. and Thomas, 1983;Masahiko and Hideyasu, 1973), and diabetes mellitus (Lai et al, 1994;Rahman et al, 1998;Rahman et al, 1999;Tseng et al, 2000).…”