Mercury, Selenium, and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Women and Men

描述(申请人提供)：长期接触汞，一种高活性的重金属，可能会增加心血管疾病(CVD)的风险。由于汞在环境中的主要暴露来自鱼类摄入，否则可能对心血管有重大益处，而且充分的数据对于正在进行的有关汞污染物的政策决策至关重要，阐明汞与心血管疾病风险之间的关系具有重要的科学和公共卫生意义。然而，以前的研究结果并不一致，以前的研究排除了女性，也没有评估中风，中风是心血管疾病发病率和死亡率的主要原因。硒是一种必需的膳食微量元素，在抗氧化防御系统中发挥着重要作用，可能对心血管疾病和汞的毒性效应具有保护作用。这种保护作用将对有关最佳硒摄入量的建议和评估富硒种群鱼类摄取汞污染的潜在影响产生直接影响。然而，汞、硒和心血管风险之间可能的相互作用还没有得到很好的证实。这项应用的目的是评估汞和硒暴露与女性和男性冠心病(CHD)和中风风险的关系。假设：1.慢性汞暴露与女性和男性患心血管疾病(冠心病和中风)的风险较高相关。2.硒摄入量与心血管疾病的风险较低有关。3.汞水平与心血管疾病风险的关系因硒摄入量的不同而不同。这些目标将在参与两项大型美国队列研究的女性和男性中使用前瞻性嵌套病例对照设计进行调查，其中包括6470例心血管疾病事件。将使用储存的趾甲修剪来确定暴露情况，这是慢性汞和硒摄入量的可靠生物标记物。这项研究提供了一个独特且经济高效的机会来评估汞和硒摄入量对女性和男性心血管风险的重要性。这项研究将极大地阐明鱼类摄入、汞暴露和硒摄入对心血管疾病预防的潜在风险和好处，履行美国国立卫生研究院的使命，追求关于人类健康和疾病的基本知识，并应用这些知识延长健康寿命，减少死亡和残疾负担。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Chronic exposure to mercury, a highly reactive heavy metal, may increase cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Because the major environmental exposure to mercury is from fish intake, which may otherwise have significant cardiovascular benefits, and because adequate data are critical to ongoing policy decisions regarding mercury contaminants, elucidating the relationship between mercury and CVD risk is of great scientific and public health importance. However, results of prior studies have been inconsistent, and prior studies excluded women and did not evaluate stroke, a major cause of CVD morbidity and mortality. Selenium, an essential dietary trace element, plays an important role in antioxidant defense systems and may protect against both CVD and toxic effects of mercury. Such a protective effect would have direct implications for recommendations regarding optimal selenium intake and for assessing the potential impact of mercury contamination from fish intake in selenium-replete populations. However, the possible interaction between mercury, selenium, and cardiovascular risk is not well-established. The objectives of this application are to assess the associations between mercury and selenium exposure and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke in women and men. It is hypothesized that: 1. Chronic mercury exposure is associated with higher risk of CVD (CHD and stroke) in women and men. 2. Selenium intake is associated with lower risk of CVD. 3. The relation between mercury levels and CVD risk varies depending on intake of selenium. These aims will be investigated using a prospective nested case-control design among women and men participating in two large U.S. cohort studies, including 6,470 incident CVD cases. Exposures will be ascertained using stored toenail clippings, a reliable biomarker of chronic mercury and selenium intake. This study provides a unique and cost-efficient opportunity to evaluate the importance of mercury and selenium intake for cardiovascular risk in women and men. This research will greatly clarify the potential risks and benefits offish intake, mercury exposure, and selenium intake for cardiovascular disease prevention, fulfilling the NIH's mission to pursue fundamental knowledge about human health and illness and the application of that knowledge to extend healthy life and reduce burdens of death and disability.