Assessment of relationship on excess fluoride intake from drinking water and carotid atherosclerosis development in adults in fluoride endemic areas, China

Cross-sectional analysis was conducted to access the relationships between developing carotid artery atherosclerosis through consuming high fluoride in drinking water and its possible mechanism, using the baseline data collected from 585 study subjects. In the cross sectional analysis, subjects were divided into four groups based on the concentrations of fluoride in their drinking water. The range of fluoride concentrations was: normal group (less than 1.20 mg/L), mild group (1.21–2.00 mg/L), moderate group (2.01–3.00 mg/L), and high concentration group (more than 3.01 mg/L). The prevalence rate of carotid artery atherosclerosis in the subjects in each group was found to be 16.13%, 27.22%, 27.10%, and 29.69%, respectively. Significant difference between the prevalence of carotid artery atherosclerosis in the mild, moderate and high fluoride exposure group and in the normal group was observed (P < 0.05). In addition, it was found that elevated intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and reduced glutathione peroxidases (GPx) was associated with carotid artery atherosclerosis in fluoride endemic areas. The findings of the research study revealed a significant positive relationship between excess fluoride exposure from drinking water and prevalence of carotid artery atherosclerosis in adults living in fluoride endemic areas. The possible mechanism was the excess fluoride induced the decreasing level of GPx causing the systemic inflammation and endothelial activation by oxidative stress.