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Background:

The general population is ubiquitously exposed to the toxic metal cadmium through the diet and smoking. Cadmium exposure is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in myocardial infarction and stroke. Atherosclerosis is the main underlying mechanism of myocardial infarction. However, associations between cadmium and coronary artery atherosclerosis have not been examined.

Objectives:

Our study sought to examine the hypothesis that blood cadmium (B-Cd) is positively associated with coronary artery calcification, as a measure of coronary artery atherosclerosis in the population-based Swedish SCAPIS study.

Methods:

Our analysis included 5,627 individuals (51% women), age 50–64 y, enrolled from 2013 to 2018. The coronary artery calcium score (CACS) was obtained from computed tomography. Blood cadmium was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Associations between B-Cd and coronary artery calcium score (CACS Agatston score) were evaluated using prevalence ratios (PRs) in models adjusted for sex, age, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, low-density cholesterol/high-density cholesterol ratio, and family history.

Results:

The median B-Cd concentration was $0.24\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{g}/\mathrm{L}$. The prevalence of positive coronary artery calcium ($\text{CACS}>0$) was 41% and the prevalence of $\text{CACS}\ge 100$ was 13%. Relative to the lowest quartile (Q) of B-Cd ($<0.16\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{g}/\mathrm{L}$), the highest quartile (median $0.63\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{g}/\mathrm{L}$) was associated with a small but significant increase in $\text{CACS}>0$ (PR 1.1; 95% CI: 1.0, 1.3), and a greater relative increase in $\text{CACS}\ge 100$ (PR 1.6; 95% CI: 1.3, 2.0). When restricted to 2,446 never-smokers, corresponding PRs were 1.1 (95% CI 0.9, 1.3) for $\text{CACS}>0$ (63 cases in Q4) and 1.7 (95% CI 1.1, 2.7) for $\text{CACS}\ge 100$ (17 cases in Q4).

Discussion:

Blood cadmium in the highest quartile was associated with CACS in a general population sample with low to moderate cadmium exposure. This supports the hypothesis that atherosclerosis is an important mechanism underlying the associations between cadmium and incident cardiovascular disease. The findings suggest that public health measures to reduce cadmium exposure are warranted. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP8523