Urinary antibiotic exposure and low grip strength risk in community-dwelling elderly Chinese by gender and age

Emerging studies have shown that environmental contaminants were related to decreased handgrip strength. Nevertheless, no prior research has investigated the relationship of exposure to environmental antibiotics with grip strength. Thus, we explored the relationship between urinary antibiotic burden and grip strength among the elderly in China. This study consisted of 451 men and 539 women from the baseline survey of a cohort study. Commonly used antibiotics for humans and animals were detected in 990 urine samples through a biomonitoring method. Grip strength was measured by an electronic dynamometer. We examined the associations of antibiotic exposure with low grip strength (LGS), grip strength, and grip strength index, respectively. Results suggested that 34.9% of participants developed LGS, and 93.0% of individuals were exposed to 1–10 antibiotics. Among women, oxytetracycline (Quartile 2: odds ratio: 2.97, 95% confidence interval: 1.36–6.50), florfenicol (Quartile 3: 2.60 [1.28–5.27]), fluoroquinolones (Quartile 4: 1.88 [1.07–3.30]), and chloramphenicols (Quartile 3: 2.73 [1.35–5.51]) could enhance LGS risk. Among men, ofloxacin (Quartile 2: 3.32 [1.45–7.59]) increased LGS risk, whereas tetracycline (Quartile 2: 0.31 [0.11–0.88]) was implicated in reduced LGS risk. In participants < 70 years, ofloxacin (Quartile 2: 3.00 [1.40–6.42]) could increase LGS risk. For participants who were 70 years of age or older, veterinary antibiotics (Quartile 3: 1.73 [1.02–2.94]) were linked to a 73% increased risk of LGS. Our findings suggested that antibiotics mainly pertained to LGS, and there were gender and age disparities in associations between antibiotic exposure and muscle strength indicators in the elderly Chinese population.