This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

The Normative Aging Study

Rokho Kim, MD, DrPH; Andrea Rotnitzky, PhD; David Sparrow, DSc; Scott T. Weiss, MD, MSc; Carrie Wager, BSc; Howard Hu, MD, ScD

JAMA. 1996;275(15):1177-1181.

Abstract
Objective.
—To determine whether low-level lead exposure is associated with impaired renal function.

Design.
—Retrospective cohort study.

Setting and Participants.
—Subjects were 459 men randomly selected from the participants of the Normative Aging Study who were originally recruited from healthy veterans in the greater Boston area in 1961 and were periodically examined at the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic every 3 to 5 years. We reconstructed blood lead concentrations for the period between 1979 and 1994 using samples of either archived red blood cells or fresh whole blood.

Main Outcome Measures.
—Serum creatinine concentration.

Results.
—After adjustment for age, body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, educational level, and hypertension, blood lead concentration was positively and significantly associated with concurrent concentration of serum creatinine (P=.005). A 10-fold increase in blood lead level predicted an increase of 7 µmol/L (0.08 mg/dL) in serum creatinine concentration, which is roughly equivalent to the increase predicted by 20 years of aging. The association was also significant among subjects whose blood lead concentrations had never exceeded 0.48 µmol/L (10 µg/dL) throughout the study period. The age-related increase in serum creatinine level was earlier and faster in the group with the highest-quartile levels of long-term lead exposure than in the group with the lowest-quartile levels.

Conclusions.
—Low-level exposure to lead may impair renal function in middle-aged and older men. Longitudinal data suggest an acceleration of age-related impairment of renal function in association with long-term low-level lead exposure.

(JAMA. 1996;275:1177-1181)

Author Affiliations
From the Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (Drs Kim, Weiss, and Hu); Departments of Environmental Health (Drs Kim and Hu), Epidemiology (Dr Kim), and Biostatistics (Dr Rotnitzky and Ms Wager), Harvard School of Public Health, Boston; and the Normative Aging Study, Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic, Boston (Dr Sparrow).

Footnotes
Reprints: Rokho Kim, MD, Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 180 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115 (e-mail: rkim@hohp.harvard.edu).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Blood Cadmium and Lead and Chronic Kidney Disease in US Adults: A Joint Analysis
Navas-Acien et al.
Am J Epidemiol 2009;170:1156-1164.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Liver and kidney function tests amongst paint factory workers in Nkpor, Nigeria
Orisakwe et al.
Toxicol Ind Health 2007;23:161-165.
ABSTRACT  

Stem Cells of Aging Donors--Insufficient Capacity to Repair Causes Progression of Atherosclerosis in the Recipient: Molecular Evidence for Arterial Repair in Atherosclerosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102: 16789-16794, 2005
Karra et al.
J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 2006;17:317-322.
FULL TEXT  

Micronutrient requirements in older women
Chernoff
Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2005;81:1240S-1245S.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Bone Density-related Predictors of Blood Lead Level among Peri- and Postmenopausal Women in the United States: The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994
Nash et al.
Am J Epidemiol 2004;160:901-911.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Environmental Exposure to Lead and Progression of Chronic Renal Diseases: A Four-Year Prospective Longitudinal Study
Yu et al.
J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 2004;15:1016-1022.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Associations of lead biomarkers with renal function in Korean lead workers
Weaver et al.
Occup. Environ. Med. 2003;60:551-562.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Blood Lead, Blood Pressure, and Hypertension in Perimenopausal and Postmenopausal Women
Nash et al.
JAMA 2003;289:1523-1532.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Blood Lead Level Is Associated With Elevated Blood Pressure in Blacks
Vupputuri et al.
Hypertension 2003;41:463-468.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Environmental Lead Exposure and Progression of Chronic Renal Diseases in Patients without Diabetes
Lin et al.
NEJM 2003;348:277-286.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Increased Body Lead Burden -- Cause or Consequence of Chronic Renal Insufficiency?
Marsden
NEJM 2003;348:345-347.
FULL TEXT  

Increases in Hypertension and Blood Pressure during Pregnancy with Increased Bone Lead Levels
Rothenberg et al.
Am J Epidemiol 2002;156:1079-1087.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Correlates of Bone and Blood Lead Levels among Middle-aged and Elderly Women
Korrick et al.
Am J Epidemiol 2002;156:335-343.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Identifying and managing adverse environmental health effects: 3. Lead exposure
Sanborn et al.
CMAJ 2002;166:1287-1292.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Environmental Lead Exposure and Progressive Renal Insufficiency
Lin et al.
Arch Intern Med 2001;161:264-271.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Bone Lead Concentrations Assessed by in Vivo X-Ray Fluorescence
Ambrose et al.
Clin. Chem. 2000;46:1171-1178.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Hypertensive nephrosclerosis: pathogenesis and prevalence : Essential hypertension is an important cause of end-stage renal disease
Luke
Nephrol Dial Transplant 1999;14:2271-2278.
FULL TEXT  

Chelation Therapy for Patients with Elevated Body Lead Burden and Progressive Renal Insufficiency: A Randomized, Controlled Trial
Lin et al.
ANN INTERN MED 1999;130:7-13.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Hypertension and Lead Exposure
Staessen et al.
JAMA 1996;276:1037-1038.
ABSTRACT  

LEAD EXPOSURE: A RISK FACTOR FOR HYPERTENSION AND RENAL DISEASE?
JWatch General 1996;1996:4-4.
FULL TEXT