A Cross-sectional Investigation On The Association Between Levels Of Whole Blood Minerals And Obesity In Adults

Objective: Obesity is a chronic metabolic disease with complex etiology,and its prevalence is one of the major public health problems worldwide.Minerals are important modulators in various metabolic processes,and their imbalance play vital roles in the etiology of obesity.However,the correlation between some minerals and obesity is still unclear,partially attributed to different diagnostic criteria of obesity and varying assessment methods of mineral exposure.In the study,we will investigate the association between obesity(both overweight and central obesity)and the levels of whole blood minerals in adults,exemplified by 11 minerals(i.e.,magnesium,calcium,chromium,manganese,iron,copper,zinc,arsenic,selenium,mercury,and lead).Methods: A total of 838 adult participants were included in this cross-sectional study,with the enrollment work conducted at the physical examination center of a general hospital in Shiyan city,Hubei province.Overweight and central obesity assessment was based on the values of BMI,waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio,obtained from physical measurements.The concentrations of 11 minerals in the whole blood samples from these participants were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS).The epidemic characteristics and influential factors of overweight and central obesity were explored on the basis of basic demographic characteristics and mineral levels.Logistic regression models were used to investigate the association between levels of whole blood minerals and risk of overweight/obesity and central obesity with adjustment for potential confounding factors.Multivariable linear regression models were used to assess the correlation between levels of whole blood minerals and different obesity indicators(e.g.BMI,waist circumference,waist-to-hip ratio and body fat percentage).Results: After adjusting for potential confounders,in the logistic regression models,compared with participants in the first quartile,the odds ratio(OR)for overweight/obesity was 1.64(95% CI: 1.06,2.53;P-trend=0.023)for participants in the fourth quartile of blood copper;the OR(95% CI)for central obesity was 2.49(1.59,3.91;P-trend<0.001)for participants in the fourth quartile of blood manganese and 2.06(1.30,3.25;Ptrend=0.006)for participants in the fourth quartile of blood copper.After adjusting for potential confounders,the multivariable regression models showed that there was significant positive association between whole blood magnesium level and body fat percentage,and significant correlation between the elevated levels of whole blood manganese or copper and the increase of obesity indicators(e.g.BMI,waist circumference,waist-to-hip ratio and body fat percentage).Conclusions: Our study suggested that the levels of whole blood manganese and copper were positively associated with the risk of obesity in Chinese adults.The findings need to be confirmed in multicenter prospective studies with larger sample sizes.