Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38353679›Full record

ArticleEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2024

Increased risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adolescents with high salivary levels of copper, manganese, and zinc.

D'Artagnan M Robinson, Karen L Edwards, Michael T Willoughby, Katrina R Hamilton, Clancy B Blair, Douglas A Granger, Elizabeth A Thomas

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 12% 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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Perturbations of Zinc Homeostasis and Onset of Neuropsychiatric Disorders.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    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 1 country.

D'Artagnan M RobinsonDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Karen L EdwardsDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Michael T WilloughbyRTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
Katrina R HamiltonDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, John Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Clancy B BlairDepartment of Population Health, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Douglas A GrangerInstitute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Elizabeth A ThomasInstitute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA. eathoma1@uci.edu.
University of California, Irvine · USBioscience Research · USJohns Hopkins University · USNew York University · USRTI International · US

Funding

Temperment, Psychobiological, and Cognitive PredictorsP01HD039667 · NICHD · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI COX, MARTHA J. · 2002 to 2011
$29.1M
Interdisciplinary Training in Biobehavioral Pain ResearchT32NS070201 · NINDS · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI DONG, XINZHONG, SMITH, MICHAEL T · 2010 to 2024
$3.6M
NICHD NIH HHS P01 HD039667NIH HHS P01HD039667NIH HHS T32NS070201NINDS NIH HHS T32 NS070201
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Exposure to toxic heavy metals has been associated with the development of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, fewer studies have examined the associations between abnormal levels of essential trace metals and ADHD, and none have done so using saliva. We investigated whether salivary metals were associated with ADHD in adolescents aged 12 from the Family Life Project (FLP) using a nested case-control study design that included 110 adolescents who met diagnostic criteria for inattentive (ADHD-I), hyperactive-impulsive (ADHD-H), or combined type ADHD (ADHD-C) (cases) and 173 children who did not (controls). We used inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrophotometry to measure chromium, copper, manganese, and zinc in saliva samples. We employed logistic regression models to examine associations between quartile levels of individual metals and ADHD outcomes by subtype. Salivary copper levels were significantly associated with increased odds of any ADHD diagnosis (OR = 3.31, 95% CI: 1.08-10.12; p = 0.04) and with increased odds of ADHD-C diagnosis (OR = 8.44, 95% CI: 1.58-45.12; p = 0.01). Salivary zinc levels were significantly associated with increased odds of ADHD-C diagnosis (OR = 4.06, 95% CI: 1.21-13.69; p = 0.02). Salivary manganese levels were also significantly associated with increased odds of ADHD-C diagnosis (OR = 5.43, 95% CI: 1.08-27.27, p = 0.04). This is the first study using saliva to assess metal exposure and provide a potential link between salivary levels of copper, manganese, and zinc and ADHD diagnoses in adolescents. Public health interventions focused on metal exposures might reduce ADHD incidence in low-income, minority communities.

Indexed as

Attention Deficit Disorder with HyperactivityCopperManganeseSalivaZincAdolescentCase-Control StudiesChildFemaleHumansMaleCopperManganeseZincAttention-deficit and hyperactivity disorderMetalsSalivaSubtype

Identifiers

PMID38353679
PMCPMC11424719
OpenAlexW4391823057

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.