CGPH FACULTY:Allan H. Smith
DATE OF PUBLICATION:June 2011
REGION: Asia
REFERENCE: Basu A, Mitra S, Chung J, Guha Mazumder DN, Ghosh N, Kalman D, von Ehrenstein OS, Steinmaus C, Liaw J, Smith AH. Creatinine, diet, micronutrients, and arsenic methylation in West Bengal, India. Environ Health Perspect. 2011 Sep;119(9):1308-13. doi: 10.1289/ehp.1003393. Epub 2011 Jun 7.
SUMMARY/ABSTRACT: We assessed the relationship of creatinine and nutrition–using dietary intake and blood concentrations of micronutrients–with arsenic metabolism, as reflected in the proportions of InAS, MMA, and DMA in urine, in the first study that incorporated both dietary and micronutrient data. Urine creatinine concentration was the strongest biological marker of arsenic methylation efficiency, and therefore should not be used to adjust for urine concentration in arsenic studies. The new finding that animal fat intake has a positive relationship with MMA% warrants further assessment in other studies. Increased MMA% was also associated, to a lesser extent, with low serum selenium and folate.
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