Both arsenic and cadmium are reported to be toxic to humans. The use of saliva as a biomarker of low-level exposures to these elements has not been adequately explored, and the putative relationship between exposure and obesity is unclear. This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the relationship between salivary arsenic and cadmium concentrations and their association with obesity. Arsenic and cadmium concentrations were analyzed in human saliva samples by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry on 270 randomly selected women who participated in the Arkansas Rural Community Health Study. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to evaluate the association between heavy metal concentrations and obesity. Stratified logistic regression was performed based on menopausal status. Generalized linear models were used to evaluate weight gain velocity. Significant positive associations were observed in postmenopausal women for both arsenic (OR = 4.43, 95% CI 1.91–10.28) and cadmium (OR = 2.72, 95% CI 1.23–5.99) concentrations, as well as significant trends among tertiles (p < 0.01 and p = 0.01, respectively). No relationship with obesity was evident among premenopausal women for either metal. A dose–response relationship was observed between increasing weight gain velocity and increasing metal concentrations. At concentrations well below governmental and industrial standards for acute toxicity, significant associations between obesity and concentration of these heavy metals are evident. The rate at which individuals gain weight is affected by metal concentrations and may play a role in the rapid increase in weight in postmenopausal women. These results might explain, in part, the missing variability in the increasing obesity pandemic in certain population exposed to these environmental toxicants.

据报道，砷和镉都对人类有毒。使用唾液作为低水平暴露于这些元素的生物标志物尚未得到充分探索，暴露与肥胖之间的假定关系尚不清楚。这项横断面研究旨在调查唾液中砷和镉浓度之间的关系及其与肥胖的关系。通过电感耦合等离子体质谱法对参与阿肯色州农村社区健康研究的 270 名随机选择的妇女在人类唾液样本中的砷和镉浓度进行了分析。进行多变量逻辑回归以评估重金属浓度与肥胖之间的关联。基于更年期状态进行分层逻辑回归。广义线性模型用于评估体重增加速度。在绝经后妇女中观察到砷 (OR = 4.43, 95% CI 1.91–10.28) 和镉 (OR = 2.72, 95% CI 1.23–5.99) 浓度以及三分位数之间的显着趋势 (p  < 0.01 和p = 0.01，分别）。在绝经前妇女中，这两种金属均与肥胖无关。在增加体重增加速度和增加金属浓度之间观察到剂量-反应关系。在远低于急性毒性的政府和工业标准的浓度下，肥胖与这些重金属浓度之间的显着关联是显而易见的。个人体重增加的速度受金属浓度的影响，并且可能在绝经后女性体重快速增加中发挥作用。这些结果可能在一定程度上解释了暴露于这些环境毒物的某些人群中日益严重的肥胖流行的缺失变异性。