EXPLORATORY STUDY ON THE ASSOCIATION OF HEAVY METALS AND THE NEPHROPATHY OF UNKNOWN ETIOLOGY IN THE WESTERN STATE OF MEXICO

In the western State of Mexico, half of the hospital admissions for chronic kidney diseases (CKD) not associated with diabetes mellitus or hypertension correspond to subjects less than 40 years of age. Therefore, this CKD is considered of unknown causes (CKDu). In this paper we studied whether there was an association between the presence of metals and risk factors with this CKDu. We performed a transversal analytical study of 100 cases and 100 controls. A questionnaire was applied to acknowledge exposition to alcohol, tobacco, drugs, nutrition, or occupational risks. Additionally, we determined in 50 samples and 50 controls the concentration of the metals arsenic, cadmium, mercury and lead. Finally, a map was constructed with the geographic references of housing from 100 patients. After performing a bivariate logistic regression, we determined that there is a statistically significant association between CKDu and smoking, occupational exposure to construction, blacksmithing, and exposure to arsenic. A larger sample is required to verify the risk of occupational exposure to the paper industry and the consumption of acetaminophen, naproxen, and cadmium. Values obtained in this work for these variables are only informative. The cases studied are in the Rio Lerma basin, one of the most contaminated in the country. The CKDu present in the State of Mexico seems to be very similar to that of Siri Lanka and of the Central American Pacific; therefore, larger scale studies are required.