ArticleEnvironmental health : a global access science source2021
Associations between blood cadmium and endocrine features related to PCOS-phenotypes in healthy women of reproductive age: a prospective cohort study.
Article in Environmental health : a global access science source, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Environmental Toxicants and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Implications for a Metabolic-Ovarian Framework (PMOS) - A Systematic Review.Biological trace element research · 2026Pooled it
- Association between exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals and polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review.Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2026Pooled it
- Assessment of ovarian dysfunction induced by environmental toxins: a systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Association between female circulating heavy metal concentration and abortion: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Pooled it
- The Effects of Microplastics and Trace Elements on Ovarian Function and Pathology: A Literature Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Environmental estrogens and animal reproductive health: mechanisms, biomarkers, and intervention approaches.Journal of animal science and biotechnology · 2026Review
- Body mass index and sleep duration may regulate the effect of heavy metals on age at menopause.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Associations Between Heavy Metal Exposure from Milk and Steroid Hormones in Mothers.Biological trace element research · 2025Article
- Propolis mitigates histopathological alterations in the pituitary gland and reproductive system of female albino rats subjected to cadmium toxicity.Veterinary world · 2025Article
- Exposure to Environmental Chemicals and Infertility Among US Reproductive-Aged Women.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Association of Plasma Metal Levels with Outcomes of Assisted Reproduction in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.Biological trace element research · 2024Article
- Examination of newborn DNA methylation among women with polycystic ovary syndrome/hirsutism.Epigenetics · 2023Article
- Prenatal Cadmium Exposure and Maternal Sex Steroid Hormone Concentrations across Pregnancy.Toxics · 2023Article
- Sex, Nutrition, and NAFLD: Relevance of Environmental Pollution.Nutrients · 2023Review
- Exposure to heavy metals and hormone levels in midlife women: The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN).Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987) · 2023Article
- The association between blood heavy metals level and sex hormones among postmenopausal women in the US.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCadmium is an endocrine disrupting chemical that affects the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Though evidence suggests its potential role in altering androgen synthesis and metabolic pathways that are characteristic of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), its relation in healthy women of reproductive age is largely unknown. As women with mild sub-clinical features of PCOS who do not meet the diagnostic criteria of PCOS may still experience reduced fecundability, investigating associations between cadmium and PCOS-phenotypes among healthy women may provide unique insight into the reproductive implications for many on the PCOS spectrum. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate associations between cadmium and androgens, anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), and metabolic markers in women of reproductive age.
methodsThis was a prospective cohort study of 251 healthy premenopausal women without self-reported PCOS (mean age 27.3 years and BMI 24.1 kg/m
resultsMedian (interquartile range) blood cadmium concentrations at baseline were 0.30 (0.19-0.43) µg/L. Higher levels of testosterone (2.2 %, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 0.4, 4.1), sex hormone-binding globulin (2.9 %, 95 % CI 0.5, 5.5), and AMH (7.7 %, 95 % CI 1.1, 14.9) were observed per 0.1 µg/L increase in cadmium concentrations. An 18 % higher probability of a mild PCOS-phenotype (95 % CI 1.06, 1.31), defined by a menstrual cycle being in the highest quartile of cycle-averaged testosterone and AMH levels, was also found per 0.1 µg/L increase in cadmium levels. No associations were observed for insulin and glucose. These findings were consistent even after analyses were restricted to non-smokers or further adjusted for dietary factors to account for potential sources of exposure.
conclusionsOverall, among healthy reproductive-aged women, cadmium was associated with endocrine features central to PCOS, but not with metabolic markers. These suggest its potential role in the hormonal milieu associated with PCOS even at low levels of exposure.
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