Long-term environmental metal exposure is associated with hypomethylation of CpG sites in NFKB1 and other genes related to oncogenesis

Table 1 Clinical and demographic characteristics of the study groups

Characteristics	Exposed individuals^a (n = 40)	Unexposed individuals^b (n = 40)	p value
Characteristics	Number (%) or median (IQR)	Number (%) or median (IQR)	p value
Age (years)	35.5 (32, 38.25)	32 (31, 36)	0.01
Gender
Female	25 (62.5%)	22 (55%)	0.53
Smoking
Smokers	13 (32.5%)	14 (35%)	0.88
BMI (kg/m²)	27.2 (22.87, 29.76)	24.25 (21.16, 28.67)	0.06
BMI class			0.05
Normal (18.5–25 kg/m²)	15 (37.5%)	24 (60%)
Overweight (25–30 kg/m²)	17 (42.5%)	12 (30%)
Obesity (≥ 30 kg/m²)	8 (20%)	4 (10%)
Chemical elements in plasma (ppb)
Ca	112 × 10³(106 × 10³,116 × 10³)	110 × 10³(103 × 10³, 117 × 10³)	0.37
Mg	23 × 10³ (22 × 10³, 24 × 10³)	23 × 10³ (21 × 10³, 24 × 10³)	0.18
Co	0.41 (0.30, 0.60)	0.49 (0.37, 0.63)	0.09
Fe	2165 (1655, 2815)	2280 (1760, 2690)	0.95
I	81 (74, 86)	75 (69, 84)	0.06
Mn	2.7 (2.4, 3.2)	2.6 (2.4, 3.3)	0.78
Cu	1240 (1100, 1340)	1170 (1010, 1280)	0.40
Mo	1.15 (0.90, 1.90)	1.24 (1.03, 1.74)	0.26
Se	128.5 (118, 141)	135 (126, 142)	0.18
Cr	< 8.312 (LOQ)		NA
Zn	1540 (1410, 1780)	1590 (1440, 1670)	0.97
Cd	< 0.378 (LOQ)		NA
As	2 (2, 2)	2 (2, 3)	0.23
Hg	< 4.042 (LOQ)		NA
Sb	8 (7, 9)	8 (7, 9)	0.73
Tl	0.026 (0.015, 0.035)	0.031 (0.021, 0.045)	0.07
Al	260 (240, 315)	260 (230, 310)	0.31
Ba	2 (2, 2)	2 (2, 3)	0.42
Be	0.2 (0.1, 0.2)	0.2 (0.1, 0.2)	0.48
V	4 (4, 4)	4 (4, 4)	0.27
Bi	< 0.002 (LOD)		NA
Au	< 0.06 (LOD)		NA
Li	4 (4, 5)	4 (3, 5)	0.09
Ni	9 (8, 9)	9 (8, 10)	0.52
Sn	< 2.558 (LOQ)		NA
Pt	< 0.003 (LOD)		NA
Ag	0.14 (0.10, 0.10)	0.19 (0.10, 0.10)	0.86
Ti	< 12.259 (LOQ)		NA
U	0.020 (0.018, 0.023)	0.016 (0.014, 0.021)	0.00049

LOD limit of detection, LOQ limit of quantification, IQR interquartile range and NA not applicable
^aExposed individuals are from the mining areas: Syunik village, Artsvanik village and Kapan city (Armenia)
^bUnexposed individuals are recruited from the Yerevan city (Armenia)

ISSN: 1868-7083