Long-Term Effects of Environmental Lead on Erythropoietin Production in Young Adults: A Follow-Up Study of a Prospective Cohort in Kosovo

Table 2

Sample biomarker characteristics (N = 576) compared to current follow-up cohort of young adults (N = 101).

	Prishtina			Mitrovica
Biomarkers	Original cohort	Current cohort (N = 21)		Original cohort	Current cohort (N = 80)
Mean BPb (μg/dl)
BPb—umbilical cord	5.66 (3.5) [255]	6.14 (3.5)	0.54	21.95 (7.9) [308]	2.8 (7.9)	0.39
BPb—age 2 years	9.31 (4.8) [170]	8.74 (5.3)	0.61	37.52 (12.3) [190]	39.6 (12.4)	0.21
BPb—age 7 years	7.56 (3.7) [100]	9.61 (7.5)	0.07	31.15 (10.5) [102]	31.4 (10.0)	0.87
BPb—age 12 years	6.31 (2.0) [61]	6.61 (3.0)	0.60	29.89 (9.7) [49]	29.8 (8.7)	0.58
Mean Hgb (μg/dl)	Original cohort	Current cohort (N = 21)		Original cohort	Current cohort (N = 80)
Hgb—cord	16.32 (2.4) [255]	15.90 (2.3)	0.44	15.89 (2.2) [308]	15.48 (2.3)	0.14
Hgb—age 2 years	10.76 (1.3) [170]	10.64 (1.6)	0.69	11.13 (1.5) [190]	10.64 (1.6)	0.02
Hgb—age 7 years	12.72 (0.8) [100]	12.84 (1.0)	0.55	12.83 (0.9) [102]	12.84 (1.0)	0.94
Hgb—age 12 years	13.05 (0.9) [60]	12.88 (1.0)	0.47	12.77 (0.8) [49]	12.88 (1.0)	0.51
Mean EPO (mlU/ml)	Original cohort	Current cohort (N = 21)		Original cohort	Current cohort (N = 80)
EPO—age 4.5 years	5.6 (3.1) [97]	7.15 (6.3) [9]	0.20	7.8 (7.3) [114]	8.6 (7.6) [23]	0.63
EPO—age 6.5 years	8.2 (4.1) [83]	6.99 (2.4) [13]	0.30	9.7 (4.1) [95]	9.2 (3.8) [42]	0.50
EPO—age 9.5 years	8.8 (6.4) [113]	7.68 (3.7) [12]	0.55	8.8 (6.2) [121]	8.5 (3.5) [53]	0.74
EPO—age 12 years	9.2 (3.4) [98]	10.61 (6.0) [14]	0.18	9.6 (3.9) [111]	9.81 (6.1) [62]	0.78

( ), standard deviation; [ ], number of the original cohort participants.