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Xu SM, Pan BL, Gao D, Zhang YW, Huan JP, Han X, Song J, Wang LP, Zhang HF, Niu Q, Lu XT. Blood glucose mediated the effects of cognitive function impairment related to aluminum exposure in Chinese aluminum smelting workers. Neurotoxicology 2022; 91:282-289. [PMID: 35679993 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuro.2022.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2021] [Revised: 05/18/2022] [Accepted: 06/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
OBJECT To explore the effects of occupational aluminum exposure on workers' cognitive function and blood glucose concentration, and to analyze whether blood glucose concentration can mediate the cognitive changes caused by aluminum. METHOD Our study recruited 375 workers from an aluminum factory in northern China. We collected the fasting elbow venous blood of the workers, measured their fasting blood glucose concentration (FBG), and used ICP-MS to determine plasma aluminum concentration (P-Al) as an indicator of internal exposure. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), was used to assess the cognitive function of workers. Generalized linear model was used to analyze the association of P-Al with cognitive function and blood glucose concentration, and the restricted cubic spline model was used to fit the dose-response relationship. We also conducted a mediation effect analysis. RESULT We observed the dose-response relationship, that is, as the P-Al increased, sum of MoCA, visuospatial/executive, naming, language, and abstraction scores decreased, and the blood glucose concentration increased. For every e-fold increase in P-Al, sum of MoCA, visuospatial/executive, naming, language, and abstraction scores decreased by 0.328 points, 0.120 points, 0.059 points, 0.060 points, and 0.083 points, respectively, and FBG rose by 0.109 mmol/L. FBG has a significant mediating effect between P-Al and sum of MoCA (P for mediator=0.042), and it could explain 10.7% of the effect of cognitive level related to P-Al. CONCLUSION Occupational aluminum exposure negatively affected the cognitive function of workers and positively affected FBG. FBG may partially explain the impact of occupational aluminum exposure on workers' cognitive function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shi-Meng Xu
- Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030001, China; Peace Hospital Affiliated to Changzhi Medical College, China
| | - Bao-Long Pan
- Sixth Hospital of Shanxi Medical University (General hospital of Tisco), China
| | - Dan Gao
- Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030001, China
| | - Yun-Wei Zhang
- Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030001, China
| | - Jia-Ping Huan
- Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030001, China
| | - Xiao Han
- Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030001, China
| | - Jing Song
- Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030001, China
| | - Lin-Ping Wang
- Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030001, China
| | - Hui-Fang Zhang
- Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030001, China
| | - Qiao Niu
- Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030001, China
| | - Xiao-Ting Lu
- Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030001, China.
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