title: Association between Arsenic Exposure and Diabetes: A Meta-Analysis.
abstract: Studies on the association between arsenic exposure and diabetes mellitus (DM) yielded inconsistent results. Epidemiologic data on the associations between arsenic exposures via inhalation and DM are limited. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the risk of DM associated with arsenic exposure. We searched the related literature through a systematic approach and analyzed the data according to the exposure route (inhalation and ingestion). We used random-effect models to estimate the summary relative risks (RRs) for DM associated with arsenic exposure and used I (2) statistics to assess the heterogeneity of studies. We identified 38 relevant studies, of which the 32 on the ingestion route showed a significant association between arsenic exposure and DM (RR = 1.57; 95% CI 1.27-1.93). Focusing on the 24 studies in which the diagnosis of DM was confirmed using laboratory tests or medical records, we found that the summary RR was 1.71 (95% CI 1.32-2.23), very close to the overall estimates. We concluded that ingested arsenic is associated with the development of DM, but the heterogeneity among the studies may affect the results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care Management, University of Kang Ning, 188 Anjhong Road, Section 5, Tainan 70970, Taiwan ; Center for Occupational and Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng-Li Road, Tainan 70428, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tzu-Ching
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng-Li Road, Tainan 70428, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jhih-Wei
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Center for Occupational and Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng-Li Road, Tainan 70428, Taiwan ; Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng-Li Road, Tainan 70428, Taiwan ; Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, 138 Sheng-Li Road, Tainan 70428, Taiwan.
authors.forename: How-Ran
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D001151:Arsenic / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000209:etiology*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D001151:Arsenic