Women in Tobago with uterine fibroids had higher concentrations of arsenic and arsenic-related compounds in their urine than women without fibroids, according to new research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health.
Published in July in Frontiers in Reproductive Health, the study is the first of its kind to examine the relationship between environmental metals and uterine fibroids in a Caribbean population. The findings suggest environmental exposures may be one factor that contributes to fibroid risk and provide a foundation for future research into how those exposures affect reproductive health.
Uterine fibroids are noncancerous growths that develop in the wall of the uterus and can affect up to 70% of people with a uterus. People who self-identify as Black are about three times more likely to develop uterine fibroids and often experience larger or more numerous fibroids, yet populations of African ancestry remain underrepresented in fibroid research.
“Our goal was to better understand whether environmental metal exposure might play a role in uterine fibroid risk in an underrepresented population — African Caribbean women,” said first author Alexis Kiyanda, MS, a second-year doctoral student in environmental and occupational health at Pitt Public Health.
Researchers analyzed urine samples from participants in the Tobago Health Study for six metals. Women with uterine fibroids had higher levels of arsenic and two arsenic metabolites than women without fibroids. They also tended to have higher levels of cadmium and lead.
“People of African ancestry experience a disproportionate burden of uterine fibroids, but we still have much to learn about why those disparities exist,” said senior author Alison Sanders, PhD, associate professor of environmental and occupational health and associate dean for research at Pitt Public Health.
Because the study was observational, the researchers cannot determine whether arsenic or other metals cause uterine fibroids or identify where participants’ exposures came from.
“We can show that there is an association, but we can’t yet say what specific exposures are causing it,” Kiyanda said. “This work identifies important questions for future studies.”
As she continues her doctoral research, Kiyanda is shifting her focus to the genetic factors that contribute to uterine fibroids.
“I want to understand how genetic risk and environmental exposures may work together—particularly among populations of African ancestry—because uterine fibroids are such a complex disease with many contributing factors,” she said.
In addition to Kiyanda and Sanders, co-authors included Hoimonty Mazumder, Iva Miljkovic, Ryan Cvejkus, Janet Catov, Aaron Barchowsky and Natalie Price of the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health; Victor Wheeler of the Tobago Health Studies Office; and Patrick J. Parsons, Elizabeth J. Mullin and Austin A. Roberts of the New York State Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center and the University at Albany College of Integrated Health Sciences.
-Ava Dzurenda