Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26980156›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2016

Longitudinal association between toenail zinc levels and the incidence of diabetes among American young adults: The CARDIA Trace Element Study.

Jong Suk Park, Pengcheng Xun, Jing Li, Steve J Morris, David R Jacobs, Kiang Liu, Ka He

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 19% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Type 2 diabetes mellitus and zinc dysregulation: From basic and epidemiological evidence to interventions.Journal of trace elements in medicine and biology : organ of the Society for Minerals and Trace Elements (GMS) · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Association between toenail zinc concentrations and incidence of asthma among American young adults: The CARDIA study.Journal of trace elements in medicine and biology : organ of the Society for Minerals and Trace Elements (GMS) · 2021
    Article
  11. Zinc as a Biomarker of Cardiovascular Health.Frontiers in nutrition · 2021
    Review
  12. Article
  13. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Jong Suk ParkDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health-Bloomington, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
Pengcheng XunDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health-Bloomington, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
Jing LiDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health-Bloomington, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
Steve J MorrisThe Research Reactor Center, University of Missouri-Columbia and Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital, Columbia, Missouri, USA.
David R JacobsDivision of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Kiang LiuDepartment of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Ka HeDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health-Bloomington, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
Indiana University Bloomington · USHarry S. Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital · USNorthwestern University · USUniversity of Minnesota · USYonsei University · KR

Funding

Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences InstituteUL1TR001108 · NCATS · INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS · PI DENNE, SCOTT C., SHEKHAR, ANANTHA · 2013 to 2017
$23.3M
Trace element levels and risk of strokeR01ES021735 · NIEHS · TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY · PI KAHE, KA, MCCLURE, LESLIE AIN · 2012 to 2016
$2.3M
Trace Elements and CVD Risks Factors Among Young AdultsR01HL081572 · NHLBI · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI KAHE, KA · 2006 to 2008
$1.2M
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR001108NHLBI NIH HHS HHSN268200900041CNHLBI NIH HHS HHSN268201300025CNHLBI NIH HHS HHSN268201300026CNHLBI NIH HHS HHSN268201300027CNHLBI NIH HHS HHSN268201300029CNHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL081572NHLBI NIH HHS R01HL081572NIEHS NIH HHS R01 ES021735NIEHS NIH HHS R01ES021735
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Data on primary prevention of zinc status and diabetes risk are sparse and inconsistent. Of note, the previous studies measured either dietary zinc intake with questionnaire or zinc status in serum or hair. Toenail zinc levels are reliable biomarkers of a relatively long-term exposure. A total of 3,960 American young adults, aged 20-32 years, free of diabetes at baseline in 1987 when toenail clippings were collected, were examined for incident diabetes through 2010. Toenail zinc levels were measured with an inductively-coupled-plasma mass spectroscopy method. Incident diabetes cases were identified by fasting or non-fasting plasma glucose levels, oral glucose tolerance tests, hemoglobin A1C levels, and/or antidiabetic medications. During the 23-year follow-up, 418 incident diabetes occurred. After adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, study center, body mass index, education, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity, family history of diabetes, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, and other dietary and non-dietary potential confounders, the hazard ratio of incident diabetes comparing the highest to the lowest quartile of toenail zinc levels was 1.21 (95% CI: 0.90-1.63; Ptrend = 0.20). Findings from this study do not support the hypothesis that zinc status is inversely and longitudinally associated with the incidence of diabetes in American young adults.

Indexed as

AdultBiomarkersDiabetes MellitusDietFemaleHumansIncidenceMaleNailsProportional Hazards ModelsProspective StudiesRisk FactorsToesTrace ElementsYoung AdultZincBiomarkersTrace ElementsZinc

Identifiers

PMID26980156
PMCPMC4793256
OpenAlexW2300039907

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.