Correction: Contribution of Environmental Toxicants and Lifestyle in Development of Cardiovascular Diseases

Abstract

This Correction refers to:

Beg MMA, Ashfaq F, Khan MI, Khan RM, Shrivastav DS. (2025). Contribution of Environmental Toxicants and Lifestyle in Development of Cardiovascular Diseases. Advancements in Life Sciences, 12(4): 710–720. https://doi.org/10.62940/als.v12i4.3720

Following a post-publication quality review, the Editorial Office identified inaccuracies in several reference-list entries, citation-reference mismatches, and instances in which references were either omitted from the in-text citations or cited at locations that did not appropriately correspond to the supporting statements. The authors reviewed the affected citations and references and corrected the relevant reference entries, citation placements, and associated text as detailed below.

These corrections are limited to citation accuracy, reference-list corrections, the addition or reassignment of in-text citations, and minor textual revisions made to ensure alignment between statements and their supporting references. They do not affect the study data, results, figures, tables, statistical analyses, interpretation, or overall conclusions of the article.

Reference corrections

• Ref. [9] — The original reference has been replaced with the corrected Ref. [9] (Liang et al., 2024).
• Ref. [26] — The original reference has been replaced with the corrected Ref. [26] (Hamanaka and Mutlu, 2018).
• Ref. [27] — The original reference has been replaced with the corrected Ref. [27] (Shkirkova et al., 2020).
• Ref. [31] — The original reference has been replaced with Ref. [31] (Sagheer et al., 2024) to provide appropriate support for the discussion of environmental pollutants, including toxic metals, and cardiovascular disease.
• Ref. [32] — The original reference has been replaced with Ref. [32] (Chowdhury et al., 2018) to appropriately support the association of toxic metal exposure, including cadmium, lead, and arsenic, with cardiovascular disease.
• Ref. [54] — The original reference has been replaced with the corrected Ref. [54] (Kirwan et al., 2017).
• Ref. [55] — The original reference has been replaced with the corrected Ref. [55] (Zhu et al., 2020).
• Ref. [58] — The original reference has been replaced with Ref. [58] (Wang et al., 2011) to appropriately support the discussion of gut microbiota-derived trimethylamine N-oxide and atherosclerosis.
• Ref. [59] — The original reference has been replaced with Ref. [59] (Geng et al., 2018) to appropriately support the discussion of TMAO-induced macrophage activation, CD36 expression, foam-cell formation, and atherosclerosis.
• Ref. [68] — The original reference has been replaced with the corrected Ref. [68] (Hadley et al., 2018).
• Ref. [71] — The original reference has been replaced with Ref. [71] (Kullo and Cooper, 2010) to appropriately support the discussion of cardiovascular risk assessment using genomic and proteomic markers.
• Ref. [72] — The original reference has been replaced with Ref. [72] (Tahir and Gerszten, 2020) to appropriately support the discussion of omics-based biomarkers and cardiometabolic disease risk prediction.

In-text citation corrections and additions

During the post-publication review, several references that were already present in the reference list were found either to have been omitted from the in-text citations or to have been cited at locations that did not appropriately correspond to the statements they were intended to support. The in-text citations were therefore added or reassigned as follows:

• Ref. [54] — A previously omitted in-text citation to Kirwan et al. (2017) has been added to the discussion of exercise-induced improvements in glucose uptake and insulin sensitivity.
• Ref. [60] — A previously omitted in-text citation has been added to the discussion of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO)-mediated atherosclerosis; the relevant citation range has been revised to [58–60].
• Ref. [73] — The citation has been reassigned to the discussion of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as persistent environmental contaminants associated with occupational and environmental exposure and potential adverse health effects.
• Ref. [74] — The citation has been reassigned to the discussion of plastic-pollution reduction, sustainable alternatives, circular-economy approaches, and policy interventions.
• Ref. [75] — The citation has been reassigned to the discussion of cardiovascular biomarkers in screening, early detection, diagnosis, and prognostic assessment.
• Ref. [76] — The citation has been reassigned to the discussion of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and digital-health applications in cardiovascular disease prevention, risk prediction, and clinical decision-making.
• Ref. [77] — The citation has been reassigned to the discussion of multi-omics approaches and personalized medicine in myocardial infarction.
• Ref. [78] — The citation has been reassigned to the discussion of targeted molecular and gene-based therapies for inherited cardiomyopathies.
• Ref. [79] — The citation has been reassigned to the discussion of transcript-targeted therapies, including small interfering RNA (siRNA) and antisense oligonucleotides.
• Ref. [80] — The citation has been reassigned to the discussion of reducing dependence on fossil fuels and promoting renewable and green energy to mitigate air pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions.
• Ref. [81] — A previously omitted in-text citation has been added to the discussion of cleaner household cooking fuels and reduction of household particulate-matter exposure.
• Ref. [82] — A previously omitted in-text citation has been added to the discussion of machine-learning and deep-learning approaches, including CNN- and LSTM-based applications in cardiovascular disease prediction.
• Ref. [83] — A previously omitted in-text citation has been added to the broader discussion of artificial intelligence and machine-learning applications in cardiovascular risk prediction and clinical decision-making.
• Ref. [84] — A previously omitted in-text citation has been added to the discussion of association-rule mining identifying elevated random blood sugar (>175 mg/dL) and HbA1c (>6.6%) as features associated with the CAD-with-diabetes group.

These citation additions, reassignments, and associated wording revisions were made to ensure that the in-text citations and corresponding statements accurately reflect the content supported by the respective references.

Text correction

In the section “Reducing exposure to environmental toxicants,” the sentence:

“To reduce exposure of hazardous chemical and POP, increase the use of eco-friendly, organic product [31].”

has been revised to:

“To reduce exposure to hazardous chemicals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs), strategies aimed at limiting environmental contamination and human exposure should be implemented [31].”

Corrected and replacement references

Ref. [9]. Liang Y, et al. Association of heavy metals exposure with lower blood pressure in the population aged 8–17 years: a cross-sectional study based on NHANES. Frontiers in Public Health. 2024;12:1411123. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2024.1411123.

Ref. [26]. Hamanaka RB, Mutlu GM. Particulate Matter Air Pollution: Effects on the Cardiovascular System. Frontiers in Endocrinology (Lausanne). 2018;9:680. doi:10.3389/fendo.2018.00680.

Ref. [27]. Shkirkova K, Lamorie-Foote K, Connor M, Patel A, Barisano G, Baertsch H, Liu Q, Morgan TE, Sioutas C, Mack WJ. Effects of ambient particulate matter on vascular tissue: a review. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B: Critical Reviews. 2020;23(7):319–350. doi:10.1080/10937404.2020.1822971.

Ref. [31]. Sagheer U, Al-Kindi S, Abohashem S, Phillips CT, Rana JS, Bhatnagar A, et al. Environmental Pollution and Cardiovascular Disease: Part 2 of 2: Soil, Water, and Other Forms of Pollution. JACC: Advances. 2024;3(2):100815. doi:10.1016/j.jacadv.2023.100815.

Ref. [32]. Chowdhury R, Ramond A, O'Keeffe LM, Shahzad S, Kunutsor SK, Muka T, et al. Environmental toxic metal contaminants and risk of cardiovascular disease: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. 2018;362:k3310. doi:10.1136/bmj.k3310.

Ref. [54]. Kirwan JP, Sacks J, Nieuwoudt S. The essential role of exercise in the management of type 2 diabetes. Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine. 2017;84(7 Suppl 1):S15–S21. doi:10.3949/ccjm.84.s1.03.

Ref. [55]. Zhu Y, Li Q, Jiang H. Gut microbiota in atherosclerosis: focus on trimethylamine N-oxide. APMIS: Acta Pathologica, Microbiologica, et Immunologica Scandinavica. 2020;128(5):353–366. doi:10.1111/apm.13038.

Ref. [58]. Wang Z, Klipfell E, Bennett BJ, Koeth R, Levison BS, DuGar B, et al. Gut flora metabolism of phosphatidylcholine promotes cardiovascular disease. Nature. 2011;472(7341):57–63. doi:10.1038/nature09922.

Ref. [59]. Geng J, Yang C, Wang B, Zhang X, Hu T, Gu Y, Li J. Trimethylamine N-oxide promotes atherosclerosis via CD36-dependent MAPK/JNK pathway. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. 2018;97:941–947. doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2017.11.016.

Ref. [68]. Hadley MB, Baumgartner J, Vedanthan R. Developing a Clinical Approach to Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Health. Circulation. 2018;137(7):725–742. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.030377.

Ref. [71]. Kullo IJ, Cooper LT. Early identification of cardiovascular risk using genomics and proteomics. Nature Reviews Cardiology. 2010;7(6):309–317. doi:10.1038/nrcardio.2010.53.

Ref. [72]. Tahir UA, Gerszten RE. Omics and Cardiometabolic Disease Risk Prediction. Annual Review of Medicine. 2020;71:163–175. doi:10.1146/annurev-med-042418-010924.

These corrections address inaccuracies in the reference list, citation-reference mismatches, omitted in-text citations, and the placement of citations with the statements they appropriately support. Minor textual revisions were also made where necessary to ensure accurate alignment with the cited references. These corrections do not affect the study data, figures, tables, statistical analyses, results, interpretation, or overall conclusions of the published article.