Photo Credit: Lothar Drechsel

The following is a summary of “Association of Urinary Cadmium Concentration With Cognitive Impairment in US Adults: A Longitudinal Cohort Study,” published in the September 2024 issue of Neurology by Lu et al.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study investigating US adults for the association between urinary cadmium (Cd) concentration and cognitive impairment.

They enrolled 30,239 US adults aged 45+ in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study (2003–2007). Urinary creatinine-corrected Cd was measured at baseline in a subcohort free of cognitive impairment or stroke. Over 10 years, global cognitive impairment was assessed annually with the 6-item Screener, and domain-based impairment (verbal learning, memory, executive function) was evaluated every other year with the Enhanced Cognitive Battery. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression examined the link between urinary Cd and cognitive impairment odds.

The results showed 2,172 participants with a mean age of 64.1 ± 9.0 years, female: 54.8%, Black participants: A38.7%, and available data on urinary Cd concentration, including 195 global cognitive impairment and 53 cases of domain-based cognitive impairment.  No association between Cd and cognitive impairment in the total sample and a significant positive association of urinary Cd concentration with global cognitive impairment among White but not Black participants were noticed. The odds of cognitive impairment for White participants in the high urinary Cd concentration group (≥median) were doubled compared with those in the low urinary Cd group (OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.18–3.64). Sex, age, region, smoking pack years, alcohol consumption, and other related metals did not materially modify the interest associations.

Investigators concluded that urinary Cd concentrations were associated with global cognitive impairment among White individuals but not Black individuals.

Source: neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000209808