(Circulation. 1995;91:645-655.)
© 1995 American Heart Association, Inc.
Articles |
Intake of Mercury From Fish, Lipid Peroxidation, and the Risk of Myocardial Infarction and Coronary, Cardiovascular, and Any Death in Eastern Finnish Men
From the Research Institute of Public Health (J.T.S., K.S., K.N., J.K., R.S.) and Departments of Community Health and General Practice (H.K.) and Chemistry (M.K.), University of Kuopio, Finland; the Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion (J.T.), the National Public Health Institute of Finland, Helsinki, Finland; and the Institute of Biochemistry (H.E., F.T.), University of Graz, Austria.
Correspondence to Prof Jukka T. Salonen, University of Kuopio, PO Box 1627, 70211 Kuopio, Finland.
Background Even though previous studies have suggested an association between high fish intake and reduced coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality, men in Eastern Finland, who have a high fish intake, have an exceptionally high CHD mortality. We hypothesized that this paradox could be in part explained by high mercury content in fish.
Methods and Results We studied the relation of the dietary intake
of fish and mercury, as well as hair content and urinary excretion of
mercury, to the risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and death
from CHD, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and any cause in 1833 men aged
42 to 60 years who were free of clinical CHD, stroke, claudication, and
cancer. Of these, 73 experienced an AMI in 2 to 7 years. Of the 78
deceased men, 18 died of CHD and 24 died of CVD. Men who had consumed
local nonfatty fish species had elevated hair mercury contents. In Cox
models with the major cardiovascular risk factors as covariates,
dietary intakes of fish and mercury were associated with significantly
increased risk of AMI and death from CHD, CVD, and any death. Men in
the highest tertile (
2.0 µg/g) of hair mercury content had a
2.0-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.2 to 3.1; P=.005) age-
and CHD-adjusted risk of AMI and a 2.9-fold (95% CI, 1.2 to 6.6;
P=.014) adjusted risk of cardiovascular death compared with
those with a lower hair mercury content. In a nested case-control
subsample, the 24-hour urinary mercury excretion had a significant
(P=.042) independent association with the risk of AMI. Both
the hair and urinary mercury associated significantly with titers of
immune complexes containing oxidized LDL.
Conclusions These data suggest that a high intake of mercury from nonfatty freshwater fish and the consequent accumulation of mercury in the body are associated with an excess risk of AMI as well as death from CHD, CVD, and any cause in Eastern Finnish men and this increased risk may be due to the promotion of lipid peroxidation by mercury.
Key Words: lipids • oxygen • mortality • infarction
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