With increased industrial development, cadmium is an increasingly important environmental pollutant. Studies have identified various adverse effects of cadmium on human beings. However, the relationships between cadmium pollution and the pathogenesis of preeclampsia remain elusive. The objective of this study is to explore the effects of cadmium on immune system among preeclamptic patients and rats. The results showed that the cadmium levels in the peripheral blood of preeclamptic patients were significantly higher than those observed in normal pregnancy. Based on it, a novel rat model of preeclampsia was established by the intraperitoneal administration of cadmium chloride (CdCl2) (0.125 mg of Cd/kg body weight) on gestational days 9–14. Key features of preeclampsia, including hypertension, proteinuria, placental abnormalities and small foetal size, appeared in pregnant rats after the administration of low-dose of CdCl2. Cadmium increased immunoglobulin production, mainly angiotensin II type 1-receptor-agonistic autoantibodies (AT1-AA), by increasing the expression of activation-induced cytosine deaminase (AID) in B cells. AID is critical for the maturation of antibody and autoantibody responses. In addition, angiotensin II type 1-receptor-agonistic autoantibody, which emerged recently as a potential pathogenic contributor to PE, was responsible for the deposition of complement component 5 (C5) in kidneys of pregnant rats via angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) activation. C5a is a fragment of C5 that is released during C5 activation. Selectively interfering with C5a signalling by a complement C5a receptor-specific antagonist significantly attenuated hypertension and proteinuria in Cd-injected pregnant rats. Our results suggest that cadmium induces immune abnormalities that may be a key pathogenic contributor to preeclampsia and provide new insights into treatment strategies of preeclampsia.

Studies indicated that occupationally exposed to metals could result in oxidative damage and inflammation and increase cardiovascular diseases risk. However, epidemiological studies about the associations of metals exposure with diabetes risk among coke oven workers were limited.This study aims to investigate the potential associations of 23 metals levels with the risk of diabetes among coke oven workers.The analysis was conducted in a cross-sectional study including 1493 participants. Urinary metals and urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) metabolites levels were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer and gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer respectively. Multivariate logistic regression was used to investigate the associations of urinary metal levels with diabetes risk with adjustment for potential confounding factors including gender, age, BMI, education, smoking, drinking, physical activity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and urinary PAHs metabolites levels.Compared with the normoglycemia group, the levels of urinary copper, zinc, arsenic, selenium, molybdenum, and cadmium were significantly higher in the diabetes group (all p < 0.05). Participants with the highest tertile of urinary copper and zinc had 2.12 (95%CI: 1.12–4.01) and 5.43 (95%CI: 2.61–11.30) fold risk of diabetes. Similar results were found for hyperglycemia risk. Besides, participants with the highest tertile of manganese, barium, and lead had 1.65(1.22–2.23), 1.60(1.19–2.16) and 1.45(1.05–1.99) fold risk of hyperglycemia when compared with the lowest tertlie.The results indicated that the urinary copper and zinc levels were positively associated with the risk of diabetes and hyperglycemia among coke oven workers. Urinary manganese, barium and lead levels were also associated with increased risk of hyperglycemia independently of other traditional risk factors. These findings need further validation in prospective study with larger sample size.

With the development of society and the economy, many Chinese cities are shrouded in pollution haze for much of the year. Scientific studies have identified various adverse effects of air pollutants on human beings. However, the relationships between air pollution and blood lipid levels are still unclear. The objective of this study is to explore the short and long-term effects of air pollution on eight blood lipid markers among elderly hypertension inpatients complicated with or without type 2 diabetes (T2D). Blood lipid markers which met the pre-established inclusion criteria were exported from the medical record system. Air pollution data were acquired from the official environmental protection website. Associations between the air quality index and the blood lipid indexes were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and further Bonferroni correction. In an exposure time of 7 days or longer, blood lipid markers were somewhat affected by poor air quality. However, the results could not predict whether atherosclerosis would be promoted or inhibited by poorer air condition. Changes of blood lipid markers of hypertension inpatients with or without T2D were not completely the same, but no blood lipid markers had an opposite trend between the two populations. The air quality index was associated with changes to blood lipid markers to some extent in a population of hypertension inpatients with or without T2D. Further studies are needed to investigate the potential mechanism by which air pollutants induce blood lipids changes.

More than 35 million people in coastal Bangladesh are vulnerable to increasing freshwater salinization. This will continue to affect more people and to a greater extent as climate change projections are realised in this area in the future. However the evidence for health effects of consuming high salinity water is limited. This research examined the association between drinking water salinity and blood pressure in young adults in coastal Bangladesh. We conducted a cross-sectional study during May-June 2014 in a rural coastal sub-district of Bangladesh. Data on blood pressure (BP) and salinity of potable water sources was collected from 253 participants aged 19–25 years. A linear regression method was used to examine the association between water salinity exposure categories and systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) level. Sixty five percent of the study population were exposed to highly saline drinking water above the Bangladesh standard (600 mg/L and above). Multivariable linear regression analyses identified that compared to the low water salinity exposure category (<600 mg/L), those in the high water salinity category (>600 mg/L), had statistically significantly higher SBP (B 3.46, 95% CI 0.75, 6.17; p = 0.01) and DBP (B 2.77, 95% CI 0.31, 5.24; p = 0.03). Our research shows that elevated salinity in drinking water is associated with higher BP in young coastal populations. Blood pressure is an important risk factor of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Given the extent of salinization of freshwater in many low-lying countries including in Bangladesh, and the likely exacerbation related to climate change-induced sea level rise, implementation of preventative strategies through dietary interventions along with promotion of low saline drinking water must be a priority in these settings.

The presence of insecticides in the waterways of the municipality of Ouro Branco, MG, Southeastern Brazil, has become a public health problem. Recent research correlates the presence of these toxins in the water to the high indexes for hypertension and abortions occurring in the rural area. These insecticide residues are only slightly concentrated in the water, and as such, it is necessary to search for and optimize analytic methods that are capable of detecting these very low concentrations. To define the method that presents the best detectability for the organochlorine chlorpyrifos, one of the most used pesticides in the area, sample extraction techniques such as liquid–liquid extraction with low temperature partition (LLE-LTP) and headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) were used, followed by gas chromatography analysis with electron capture detection (GC-ECD). Full factorial design 2⁴ and the Doehlert matrix were used to optimize both extraction techniques. The results displayed that HS-SPME-GC-ECD was the method that presented the best performance for determining the presence of chlorpyrifos in the water. The optimum condition was defined at the extraction time and temperature of 60 min and 85 °C, respectively, with a sample volume of 11 mL and Na₂HPO₄ concentration of 0.04 mol/L. The optimized method was validated for the principal figures of merit. The method displayed linearity with R ² equal to 0.992 and detection limit (LOD) and quantification limit (LOQ) of 0.50 and 1.67 μg/L, respectively. The results indicate that the HS-SPME-GC-ECD technique proposed is efficient for determining the presence of chlorpyrifos in water, and analyses of the collected sample indicated the presence of chlorpyrifos in water bodies in the rural zone of Ouro Branco in concentrations within detection and quantification limits.

Air pollution is recognized as an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. We investigated association of exposure to occupational air pollution and cardiac function in the workers of the steel industry. Fifty male workers of the agglomeration and coke-making parts of the Esfahan Steel Company were randomly selected (n = 50). Workers in the administrative parts were studied as controls (n = 50). Those with known history of hypertension, dyslipidemia, or diabetes, and active smokers were not included. Data of age, body mass index, employment duration, blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, and lipid profile were gathered. Echocardiography was performed to evaluate cardiac function. Left ventricular ejection fraction was lower in workers of the agglomeration/coke-making parts than in controls (mean difference = 5 to 5.5 %, P < 0.001). Mild right ventricular dilatation and grade I pulmonary hypertension were present in three (12 %) workers of the coke-making part, but none of the controls (P = 0.010). According to these results, occupational air pollution exposure in workers of the steel industry is associated with left heart systolic dysfunction. Possible right heart insults due to air pollution exposure warrant further investigations.

In Brazil, cardiovascular diseases account for 33% of deaths and the prevalence of hypertension is of approximately 22%. The Santos and São Vicente Estuarine System is the most important example of environmental degradation by chemicals from industrial sources. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of hypertension and its associated factors in the population of this estuary in the period 2006-2009. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the aforementioned prevalence of hypertension in the evaluated areas, as well as risk factors for this disease in four contaminated areas located in the Estuary, and one area outside Estuary, the city of Bertioga. Associations between categorical variables were tested using Pearson's chi-square test incorporating Yates' correction, or Fisher's exact test. Single and multiple logistic regression models were applied to evaluate the risk factors for hypertension. The highest prevalence of hypertension was found in Continental São Vicente (28.4%). The risk factors for hypertension were the following: living in Center of Cubatão (OR: 1.3; IC95%: 1.0 – 1.6) and Continental São Vicente (OR: 1.4; IC95%: 1.1 – 1.8); illiterate (OR: 1.9; IC95%: 1.1 – 3.2); living in the area for more than 20 years (OR: 1.2; IC95%: 1.0 – 1.5); group of people aged 36-60 years (OR: 3.9; IC95%: 3.3 – 4.6) and who have had past occupational exposure (OR: 1.3; IC95%: 1.1 – 1.6). Results indicate that living in contaminated areas, especially for a longer time, is a risk factor for hypertension.

We aimed to understand and to provide evidence on relationships of the weather as biometeorological and hospital admissions due to hypertension, angina, myocardial infarction and ischemic heart disease in a national setting in recent years that might help indicate when to expect more admissions for health professionals and the general public. This is an ecological study. Ten percent of daily hospital admissions from the included hospitals (n = 1618) across Germany that were available between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2011 (n = 5,235,600) were extracted from Statistisches Bundesamt, Germany. We identified I11 hypertensive heart disease, I13 hypertensive heart and renal disease, I15 secondary hypertension, I20 angina pectoris, I21 acute myocardial infarction and I25 chronic ischemic heart disease by International Classification of Diseases version 10 as the study outcomes. Daily weather data from 64 weather stations that covered 13 German States including air temperature, humidity, wind speed, cloud cover, radiation flux and vapour pressure were obtained and generated into physiologically equivalent temperature (PET). Two-way fractional-polynomial prediction was plotted with 95 % confidence intervals. Hospital admissions of hypertension, angina, myocardial infarction, heart disease peaked in winter and early spring when PETs were around 0 °C. Admissions had an apparent drop when PETs reached 10 °C. More medical resources could have been needed on days when PETs were around 0 °C than on other days. While adaptation to such weather change for health professionals and the general public would seem to be imperative, future research with a longitudinal monitoring would still be needed.

The pathology of cardiovascular disease is multi-faceted, with links to many modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. Epidemiological evidence now implicates exposure to persistent organic pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), with an increased risk of developing diabetes, hypertension, and obesity; all of which are clinically relevant to the onset and progression of cardiovascular disease. PCBs exert their cardiovascular toxicity either directly or indirectly via multiple mechanisms, which are highly dependent on the type and concentration of PCBs present. However, many PCBs may modulate cellular signaling pathways leading to common detrimental outcomes including induction of chronic oxidative stress, inflammation, and endocrine disruption. With the abundance of potential toxic pollutants increasing globally, it is critical to identify sensible means of decreasing associated disease risks. Emerging evidence now implicates a protective role of lifestyle modifications such as increased exercise and/or nutritional modulation via anti-inflammatory foods, which may help to decrease the vascular toxicity of PCBs. This review will outline the current state of knowledge linking coplanar and non-coplanar PCBs to cardiovascular disease and describe the possible molecular mechanism of this association.