Elevated non-essential metals and the disordered metabolism of essential metals are associated to abnormal pregnancy with spontaneous abortion

Ruixia Wang; Le Zhang; Yongjiu Chen; Shuping Zhang; Taifeng Zhuang; Li Wang; Ming Xu; Na Zhang; Sijin Liu

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2020.106061

Elevated non-essential metals and the disordered metabolism of essential metals are associated to abnormal pregnancy with spontaneous abortion

Environ Int. 2020 Nov:144:106061. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.106061. Epub 2020 Sep 2.

Authors

Ruixia Wang¹, Le Zhang², Yongjiu Chen¹, Shuping Zhang³, Taifeng Zhuang⁴, Li Wang⁵, Ming Xu¹, Na Zhang⁶, Sijin Liu⁷

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
² Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
³ The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China.
⁴ Department of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
⁵ Department of Ultrasound, Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
⁶ Department of Ultrasound, Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: nana8022@163.com.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address: sjliu@rcees.ac.cn.

PMID: 32890886
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.106061

Abstract

Spontaneous abortion is a considerable threat to the physiology and mental health of the mother. The etiology of spontaneous abortion is multifactorial with complicated mechanisms, of which overexposure to non-essential metals (especially heavy metals) has been proposed to be associated with adverse birth outcomes. However, significant knowledge gaps remain to be filled in, such as the deleterious profile of non-essential metals and their interplay with essential metals in abnormal pregnancy. Under this setting, we aimed to address these challenges by conducting a cross-sectional study on 56 patients with spontaneous abortion in the 1^st trimester, by comparing to 55 healthy pregnant women in 1^st the trimester and 41 non-pregnant healthy women. Overexposure to a few non-essential metals, such as arsenic (As), antimony (Sb) and bismuth (Bi), was found in patients with spontaneous abortion, and likewise, some essential elements, such as magnesium (Mg), copper (Cu), vanadium (V), strontium (Sr) and tin (Sn), were also found to be elevated under spontaneous abortion. Further evidence of abnormal pregnancy was induced by a reduced level of internal hormones necessary for normal gestation, such as estradiol (E2) and progesterone (PRGE) in women with spontaneous abortion. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels were slightly increased in patients with spontaneous abortion. Comprehensive correlation analyses were carried out to identify the crucial factors that result in abortion. Our data stratified the important variables in decreasing order: PRGE, As, Mg, Sb, Sr, Sn, Bi and pregnant times in the progress of spontaneous abortion. Moreover, labyrinthine associations were uncovered between PRGE, non-essential metals and essential elements in causing spontaneous abortion. Therefore, our combined data unveiled the likely synergistic implications of elevated non-essential metals and the disordered metabolism of essential metals in abnormal pregnancy.

Keywords: Disordered essential metal; Hormone; Non-essential metal exposure; Spontaneous abortion.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Abortion, Spontaneous* / epidemiology
Arsenic*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Metals, Heavy* / toxicity
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications*

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Arsenic