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Environmental exposure to arsenic, AS3MT polymorphism and prevalence of diabetes in Mexico

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 23, pages 151–155 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Exposure to arsenic in drinking water is associated with increased prevalence of diabetes. We previously reported an association of diabetes and urinary concentration of dimethylarsinite (DMAsIII), a toxic product of arsenic methylation by arsenic (+3 oxidation state) methyltransferase (AS3MT). Here we examine associations between AS3MT polymorphism, arsenic metabolism and diabetes. Fasting blood glucose, oral glucose tolerance and self-reported diagnoses were used to identify diabetic individuals. Inorganic arsenic and its metabolites were measured in urine. Genotyping analysis focused on six polymorphic sites of AS3MT. Individuals with M287T and G4965C polymorphisms had higher levels of urinary DMAsIII and were more frequently diabetic than the respective wild-type carriers, although the excess was not statistically significant. Odds ratios were 11.4 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.2–58.8) and 8.8 (95% CI 1.6–47.3) for the combined effects of arsenic exposure >75th percentile and 287T and 4965C genotypes, respectively. Carriers of 287T and 4965C may produce more DMAsIII and be more likely to develop diabetes when exposed to arsenic.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by US EPA/STAR grant no. 832735 and by NIH grant no. 5R01 ES015326-02 to MS. Support was also provided by the UNC Nutrition Obesity Research Center funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (grant no. DK056350). We thank Erika Hernández-Castellanos and Olga L Valenzuela (Departamento de Toxicología, Cinvestav, Arturo Cebrián and Jaime Duarte (Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango), and the staff of Jurisdicción Sanitaria 5 de Zimapán, Hidalgo, for their enthusiastic support and help with subject recruitment, interviews, medical exams and sample collection. We also thank Professor William R Cullen (University of British Columbia) who provided us with methylated trivalent arsenic standards and Dr. David J Thomas (US EPA) and Dr. John Buse for their suggestions and comments regarding the data analysis and interpretation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    Zuzana Drobná & Miroslav Stýblo

  2. Departamento de Toxicología, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México, DF, México

    Luz M Del Razo, Luz C Sánchez-Peña & Angel Barrera-Hernández

  3. Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango, Gómez Palacio, Durango, México

    Gonzalo G García-Vargas

  4. IARC Monographs Section, IARC/WHO, Lyon Cedex, France

    Dana Loomis

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  1. Zuzana Drobná
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  2. Luz M Del Razo
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  3. Gonzalo G García-Vargas
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Correspondence to Dana Loomis.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology website

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Drobná, Z., Del Razo, L., García-Vargas, G. et al. Environmental exposure to arsenic, AS3MT polymorphism and prevalence of diabetes in Mexico. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 23, 151–155 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2012.103

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