Mo and Sn exposure associated with the increased of bone mineral density

Bone mineral density (BMD) measured by T-score is strongly associated with bone health, but research on its association with metals in humans body remains limited. To investigate the relationship between metal exposure and BMD, numbers of 159 participants in eastern China were studied. Urine and blood samples were collected and levels of 20 metals in the samples were measured using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Binary Logistic Regression model (BLR) and Generalized Linear Models (GLM) were used to explore the relationship between metals and BMD. Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR) model was further used to explore the effect of multiple metal interactions on BMD. Six metals (Mn, Co, As, Se, Mo, Cd) were selected and the concentrations in blood and urine were compared using Wilcoxon and Spearman tests. In the single-metal model, BLR and GLM commonly showed positive significant correlations between four metals (As, Mo, Se, Sn) in urine and BMD. Strong correlations between five metals (Mn, Co, As, Se, Mo) in blood and urine were observed (P ≤ 0.05). The BKMR model indicated a predominant synergistic effect of urine Mo and Sn, increased co-exposure to these metals is associated with a higher trend of BMD. These findings suggest that exposure to metals is associated with an increased level of BMD in humans. To better understand the impact of metals on bone health, further investigation into the common roles of these metals and their interactions is needed.