title: Determinants and Consequences of Arsenic Metabolism Efficiency among 4,794 Individuals: Demographics, Lifestyle, Genetics, and Toxicity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Exposure to inorganic arsenic (iAs), a class I carcinogen, affects several hundred million people worldwide. Once absorbed, iAs is converted to monomethylated (MMA) and then dimethylated forms (DMA), with methylation facilitating urinary excretion. The abundance of each species in urine relative to their sum (iAs%, MMA%, and DMA%) varies across individuals, reflecting differences in arsenic metabolism capacity.
  
  
  METHODS
  The association of arsenic metabolism phenotypes with participant characteristics and arsenical skin lesions was characterized among 4,794 participants in the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study (Araihazar, Bangladesh). Metabolism phenotypes include those obtained from principal component (PC) analysis of arsenic species.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two independent PCs were identified: PC1 appears to represent capacity to produce DMA (second methylation step), and PC2 appears to represent capacity to convert iAs to MMA (first methylation step). PC1 was positively associated (P <0.05) with age, female sex, and BMI, while negatively associated with smoking, arsenic exposure, education, and land ownership. PC2 was positively associated with age and education but negatively associated with female sex and BMI. PC2 was positively associated with skin lesion status, while PC1 was not. 10q24.32/AS3MT region polymorphisms were strongly associated with PC1, but not PC2. Patterns of association for most variables were similar for PC1 and DMA%, and for PC2 and MMA% with the exception of arsenic exposure and SNP associations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Two distinct arsenic metabolism phenotypes show unique associations with age, sex, BMI, 10q24.32 polymorphisms, and skin lesions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This work enhances our understanding of arsenic metabolism kinetics and toxicity risk profiles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Rick J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.affiliation: Divison of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Argos
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Jiabei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: UChicago Research Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rakibuz-Zaman
authors.affiliation: UChicago Research Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Md Tariqul
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Vesna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Slavkovich
authors.affiliation: UChicago Research Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Alauddin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Navas-Acien
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Faruque
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Parvez
authors.affiliation: Departments of Population Health and Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Mary V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Gamble
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Joseph H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Graziano
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. Department of Human Genetics and Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. brandonpierce@uchicago.edu habib@uchicago.edu.
authors.forename: Brandon L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Pierce
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. Department of Human Genetics and Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. brandonpierce@uchicago.edu habib@uchicago.edu.
authors.forename: Habibul
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ahsan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001152:Arsenicals / Q000378:metabolism*; D003710:Demography; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D060005:Genotyping Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001152:Arsenicals