The association between serum copper concentrations and elevated blood pressure in US children and adolescents: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011-2016

• Published in: BMC cardiovascular disorders Vol. 21; no. 1; p. 57
• Main Authors: Liu, Changsong, Liao, Yanfen, Zhu, Zongyuan, Yang, Lili, Zhang, Qin, Li, Li
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 28.01.2021; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adjustment; Adolescents; Age; Blood pressure; Body height; Body mass index; Children; Children and adolescents; Copper; Copper in the body; Demographic aspects; Dose-response relationship (Biochemistry); Dose–response; Elevated blood pressure; Health aspects; Hispanic people; Hypertension; Metals; Overweight; Pediatric research; Pediatrics; Poverty; Risk factors; Statistics; Teenagers; United States; United States > US; Dose–response; Children and adolescents; Elevated blood pressure; Copper
• ISSN: 1471-2261; 1471-2261
• DOI: 10.1186/s12872-021-01880-3

Copper is an essential trace metal with potential interest for cardiovascular effects. Few studies have explored the association between copper and blood pressure in children and adolescents. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 1242 children and adolescents aged 8-17 years who participated in the 2011 to 2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Using 2017 American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines, elevated blood pressure (EBP) was defined as a mean systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure (BP) ≥ 90th percentile for sex, age, and height for children aged 1-12 years and systolic BP ≥ 120 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥ 80 mmHg for adolescent age 13-17 years. Mean serum copper was 114.17 μg/dL. After multiple adjustments, dose-response analyses revealed that EBP was associated with progressively higher serum copper concentrations in a nonlinear trend. In comparison with the lowest quartile of serum copper concentrations, the adjusted odds of EBP for the highest quartile was 5.26 (95% confidence interval, 2.76-10.03). Our results suggested that high serum copper concentrations were significantly associated with EBP in US children and adolescents.