TY - JOUR
T1 - Mercury levels in hair are associated with reduced neurobehavioral performance and altered brain structures in young adults
AU - Takeuchi, Hikaru
AU - Shiota, Yuka
AU - Yaoi, Ken
AU - Taki, Yasuyuki
AU - Nouchi, Rui
AU - Yokoyama, Ryoichi
AU - Kotozaki, Yuka
AU - Nakagawa, Seishu
AU - Sekiguchi, Atsushi
AU - Iizuka, Kunio
AU - Hanawa, Sugiko
AU - Araki, Tsuyoshi
AU - Miyauchi, Carlos Makoto
AU - Sakaki, Kohei
AU - Nozawa, Takayuki
AU - Ikeda, Shigeyuki
AU - Yokota, Susumu
AU - Magistro, Daniele
AU - Sassa, Yuko
AU - Kawashima, Ryuta
N1 - Funding Information:
We respectfully thank Yuki Yamada for operating the MRI scanner, and Haruka Nouchi for being an examiner of psychological tests. We also thank study participants, the other examiners of psychological tests, and all of our colleagues in Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer and in Tohoku University for their support. This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) (KAKENHI 23700306) and a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A) (KAKENHI 25700012) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. The authors would like to thank Enago (www.enago.jp) for the English language review. We would like to thank La Belle Vie Inc. and its employees for the hair mineral level analyses as well as Dr. Yasuda and Dr. Sonobe for their technical advice regarding the analyses.
Funding Information:
We respectfully thank Yuki Yamada for operating the MRI scanner, and Haruka Nouchi for being an examiner of psychological tests. We also thank study participants, the other examiners of psychological tests, and all of our colleagues in Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer and in Tohoku University for their support. This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) (KAKENHI 23700306) and a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A) (KAKENHI 25700012) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. The authors would like to thank Enago ( www.enago.jp ) for the English language review. We would like to thank La Belle Vie Inc. and its employees for the hair mineral level analyses as well as Dr. Yasuda and Dr. Sonobe for their technical advice regarding the analyses.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - The detrimental effects of high-level mercury exposure on the central nervous system as well as effects of low-level exposure during early development have been established. However, no previous studies have investigated the effects of mercury level on brain morphometry using advance imaging techniques in young adults. Here, utilizing hair analysis which has been advocated as a method for biological monitoring, data of regional gray matter volume (rGMV), regional white matter volume (rWMV), fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD), cognitive functions, and depression among 920 healthy young adults in Japan, we showed that greater hair mercury levels were weakly but significantly associated with diminished cognitive performance, particularly on tasks requiring rapid processing (speed measures), lower depressive tendency, lower rGMV in areas of the thalamus and hippocampus, lower rWMV in widespread areas, greater FA in bilaterally distributed white matter areas overlapping with areas of significant rWMV reductions and lower MD of the widely distributed gray and white matter areas particularly in the bilateral frontal lobe and the right basal ganglia. These results suggest that even normal mercury exposure levels in Japan are weakly associated with differences of brain structures and lower neurobehavioral performance and altered mood among young adults.
AB - The detrimental effects of high-level mercury exposure on the central nervous system as well as effects of low-level exposure during early development have been established. However, no previous studies have investigated the effects of mercury level on brain morphometry using advance imaging techniques in young adults. Here, utilizing hair analysis which has been advocated as a method for biological monitoring, data of regional gray matter volume (rGMV), regional white matter volume (rWMV), fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD), cognitive functions, and depression among 920 healthy young adults in Japan, we showed that greater hair mercury levels were weakly but significantly associated with diminished cognitive performance, particularly on tasks requiring rapid processing (speed measures), lower depressive tendency, lower rGMV in areas of the thalamus and hippocampus, lower rWMV in widespread areas, greater FA in bilaterally distributed white matter areas overlapping with areas of significant rWMV reductions and lower MD of the widely distributed gray and white matter areas particularly in the bilateral frontal lobe and the right basal ganglia. These results suggest that even normal mercury exposure levels in Japan are weakly associated with differences of brain structures and lower neurobehavioral performance and altered mood among young adults.
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U2 - 10.1038/s42003-022-03464-z
DO - 10.1038/s42003-022-03464-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 35655003
AN - SCOPUS:85131143089
SN - 2399-3642
VL - 5
JO - Communications Biology
JF - Communications Biology
IS - 1
M1 - 529
ER -