Objective To investigate the relationship between plasma polymetallic concentrations and fasting blood glucose levels in elderly aged ≥ 60 years in an urban area of Zibo, Shandong province, China.
Methods A total of 1 523 elderly aged ≥ 60 years who underwent physical examination in urban Zibo, Shandong province from August 2020 to June 2021, were selected to collect their information on demographic characteristics, lifestyle, and health status by questionnaire survey, and their fasting blood glucose levels were measured by automated blood biochemistry analyzer. The concentrations of 22 metals including calcium, magnesium, and zinc in plasma were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Based on the tertiles of plasma metal concentrations, the participants were divided into three groups: low-concentration (T1), medium-concentration (T2), and high-concentration (T3). The relationship between plasma metal concentrations and fasting blood glucose levels in the elderly was analyzed through single-metal linear regression, multiple-metal linear regression, and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) models.
Results The median age of the 1 523 participants was 70 years, with 678 (44.52%) males and 845 (55.48%) females. The median fasting blood glucose concentration in the elderly was 5.98 mmol/L. The multivariable linear regression analysis showed that, compared with the T1 group, the levels of calcium, copper, rubidium, and chromium in plasma were positively associated with fasting blood glucose levels in the T3 group, with β (95% confidence interval (CI)) being 0.32 (0.02, 0.61), 0.29 (0.03, 0.54), 0.42 (0.16, 0.69), and 0.34 (0.04, 0.63), respectively; plasma magnesium and arsenic concentrations were negatively associated with fasting blood glucose levels in the T3 group, with β (95% CI) being -0.90 (-1.16, -0.64) and -0.24 (-0.46, -0.02), respectively. The BKMR analysis showed that the composite concentrations of 22 metals and 11 essential metals at high levels in plasma were positively associated with fasting blood glucose levels in the elderly, and the composite concentration of 11 nonessential metals was positively associated with fasting blood glucose levels in the elderly.
Conclusion In this study, it was found that the plasma magnesium was negatively associated with fasting blood glucose concentration in the elderly in Zibo, while plasma copper and rubidium concentrations were positively associated with fasting blood glucose concentration. The composite concentration of plasma metals was positively associated with fasting blood glucose concentration, in which calcium, magnesium, copper, rubidium, chromium, and arsenic played independent roles. This study provides a reference for blood glucose control and diabetes prevention.
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