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. 2024 Mar 1:15:1318737.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1318737. eCollection 2024.

Associations of perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate exposure with arthritis and inflammation indicators in young and middle-aged adults, NHANES 2005-2016

Hui Zhao #  1   2 , Xuyang Chen #  1   2 , Jianping Ni #  1   2 , Lanlan Fang  1   2 , Yuting Chen  1   2 , Yubo Ma  1   2 , Guoqi Cai  1   2 , Faming Pan  1   2
Affiliations

Associations of perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate exposure with arthritis and inflammation indicators in young and middle-aged adults, NHANES 2005-2016

Hui Zhao et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Background: Perchlorates, nitrates, and thiocyanates are prevalent environmental chemicals. Their potential association with arthritis remains unexplored. This study aimed to investigate the link between perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate exposure and arthritis, as well as the potential role of inflammation in this context.

Methods: Utilizing the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data spanning from 2005 to 2016, the study enrolled 6597 participants aged 20-59 (young and middle-aged), of which 1045 had arthritis. Employing multivariate logistic regression modeling, multiple linear regression models, restricted cubic spline analysis, Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) modeling, and mediation analysis, we assessed these relationships.

Results: There was a significant positive association between elevated urinary thiocyanate levels and arthritis risk [1.19 (1.11, 1.28)]. This association held true across subgroups of osteoarthritis (OA) [1.24 (1.10, 1.40)] and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) [1.33 (1.15, 1.55)]. Thiocyanate levels displayed a dose-dependent relationship with arthritis risk, showing a linear trend (nonlinear P > 0.05). Conversely, perchlorate and nitrate did not exhibit associations with arthritis risk. BKMR outcomes highlighted a positive correlation between a mixture of perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate and arthritis risk, with thiocyanate being the predominant predictors. Moreover, BKMR and generalized linear model analyses unveiled no significant synergistic effect of urinary perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate on arthritis risk. Furthermore, thiocyanate exposure has been linked to elevated levels of inflammatory indicators (white blood cell, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and systemic immune-inflammatory index (SII)).

Conclusion: Heightened thiocyanate exposure may be linked to elevated arthritis risk, either single or in combined effects. Additionally, thiocyanate exposure is associated with heightened inflammation levels.

Keywords: BKMR; NHANES; arthritis; inflammation; thiocyanate.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Restricted cubic spline plots of the association between ln-transformed concentration of thiocyanate and arthritis and its subtypes.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The joint effects of perchlorate, nitrate and thiocyanate mixtures on arthritis and its subtypes were estimated by BKMR models.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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