Effects of cold and hot temperature on metabolic indicators in adults from a prospective cohort study

Shan Zheng; Wenzhi Zhu; Qin Shi; Minzhen Wang; Yonghong Nie; Desheng Zhang; Zhiyuan Cheng; Chun Yin; Qian Miao; Yan Luo; Yana Bai

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145046

Effects of cold and hot temperature on metabolic indicators in adults from a prospective cohort study

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Jun 10:772:145046. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145046. Epub 2021 Jan 29.

Authors

Shan Zheng¹, Wenzhi Zhu², Qin Shi², Minzhen Wang², Yonghong Nie³, Desheng Zhang⁴, Zhiyuan Cheng⁵, Chun Yin⁴, Qian Miao², Yan Luo², Yana Bai⁶

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Epidemiology and Statistics, School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 73000, China. Electronic address: zhengsh@lzu.edu.cn.
² Institute of Epidemiology and Statistics, School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 73000, China.
³ Jinchang Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Jinchang 737100, China.
⁴ Workers' Hospital of Jinchuan Group Co., Ltd., Jinchang 737103, China.
⁵ School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, RI 02903, USA.
⁶ Institute of Epidemiology and Statistics, School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 73000, China. Electronic address: baiyana@lzu.edu.cn.

PMID: 33581536
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145046

Abstract

Background: Previous studies have found that exposed to low and high outdoor temperature was associated with cardiovascular diseases morbidity and mortality. The risk factors for cardiovascular disease include high blood lipid, high uric acid (UA) and high fasting plasma glucose (FPG). However, few studies have explored the effects of low and high temperature on these metabolic indicators.

Objective: To explore the effect of low and high temperature on metabolic indicators in adults from northwest of China.

Methods: Based on a prospective cohort study, a total of 30,759 individuals who participated in both baseline and first follow-up from 2011 to 2015 were selected in this study. The meteorological observation data and environmental monitoring data were collected in the same period. Associations between cold and hot temperature and blood lipid (total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C)), UA and FPG were conducted with mixed effect models after adjusting for confounding factors.

Results: A nonlinear relationship between outdoor temperature and metabolic indicators was found. For the cold effects, each 5 °C decrease of mean temperature was associated with an increase of 5.07% (95% CI: 3.52%, 6.63%) in TG and 2.85% (95% CI: 2.18%, 3.53%) in UA, While a decrease of 3.38% (95% CI: 2.67%, 4.09%) in HDL-C and 1.26% (95% CI: 0.48%, 2.04%) in LDL-C. For the heat effects, each 5 °C increase in mean temperature was associated with 1.82% (95% CI: 0.89%, 2.76%), 0.56% (95% CI: 0.11%, 1.00%), 5.82% (95% CI: 4.58%, 7.06%), 9.02% (95% CI: 7.17%, 10.87%), 0.20% (95% CI: 0.01%, 0.40%), and 1.22% (95% CI: 0.19%, 2.24%) decrease in TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C, UA and FPG. Age, smoking, drinking, high-oil diet and hyperlipidemia might modify the association between mean temperature and metabolic indicators.

Conclusion: There was a significant effect of cold and hot temperature on metabolic indicators in a high altitude area of northwestern China. These results provide a basis for understanding the underlying mechanism of the influence of temperature on metabolic diseases.

Keywords: Cohort study; Cold and hot temperature; Metabolic indicators; Mixed effect model.

MeSH terms

Adult
China / epidemiology
Cholesterol, HDL
Cholesterol, LDL
Hot Temperature*
Humans
Prospective Studies
Risk Factors

Substances

Cholesterol, HDL
Cholesterol, LDL