Objective: To examine if iron-deficient conditions modify body burden or health effects of cadmium among women in the general population in Japan.
Methods: In 2002, 1,482 women aged 20 to 74 years in six prefectures in Japan provided informed consent to participate in this study. They offered peripheral blood and spot urine samples, and answered questionnaires on their social habits and health conditions. Never-smoking, non-pregnant and non-lactating healthy women (1,190 subjects) were selected from the volunteers. Blood samples were analyzed for serum iron, ferritin and total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) in addition to red blood cell (RBC) counts and hemoglobin (Hb) concentration as markers of anemia and iron deficiency. Urine samples were analyzed for cadmium (Cd), alpha(1)-microglobulin (alpha(1)-MG), beta(2)-microglobulin (beta(2)-MG) as markers of Cd burden and Cd-induced tubular dysfunction; the measures were expressed after being corrected for creatinine (cr) as, e.g., Cd-Ucr.
Results: The subjects were classified into anemic (37 women) and iron-deficient (388 women) groups separately from healthy controls (765 women), taking ferritin (<20 ng/ml) and Hb (<10 g/100 ml) as classification indicators. Strictly matched pairs (with regard to age and prefecture) were established for 36 anemic and 280 iron-deficient cases. Comparison between the cases and the matched controls showed that serum iron was lower and TIBC was higher in accordance with lower levels of ferritin and Hb in the anemic and iron-deficient groups, although the RBC count was only slightly reduced (the anemic group) or stayed essentially unchanged (the iron-deficient group). In contrast, no significant increase in Cd-Ucr, alpha(1)-MG, or beta(2)-MG was observed in either the anemic group or the iron-deficient group compared with the matched controls. Cd-Ucr in one case of clinical anemia, however, tended to be higher than the levels among women of the same age range and from the same prefecture. Her alpha(1)-MG-Ucr and beta(2)-MG-Ucr, however, remained un-elevated.
Conclusions: The current level of iron deficiency among women in the general population in Japan may not induce significant increase in Cd body burden or Cd-induced tubular dysfunction.