Table 3. Trace element contents in toenails of inactive and active men and women.
| Inactive | Active | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | Median | IQR | n | Median | IQR | P* | |
| Men | |||||||
| Ca (mg/kg) | 25 | 1170.0 | 714.5–1365.0 | 25 | 1070.0 | 766.5–1425.0 | 0.938 |
| Cr (μg/kg) | 25 | 578.0 | 411.0–143.0 | 25 | 522.0 | 267.0–1125.0 | 0.277 |
| Fe (mg/kg) | 25 | 13.1 | 7.5–22.3 | 25 | 15.8 | 9.5–34.3 | 0.174 |
| Co (μg/kg) | 25 | 7.9 | 3.9–14.0 | 25 | 14.1 | 5.9–30.1 | 0.061 |
| Ni (μg/kg) | 23 | 1070.0 | 692.0–2250.0 | 23 | 769.0 | 464.0–2075.0 | 0.590 |
| Zn (mg/kg) | 25 | 106.0 | 90.8–114.0 | 25 | 108.0 | 100.0–115.5 | 0.351 |
| Se (μg/kg) | 25 | 595.0 | 526.0–677.5 | 24 | 563.5 | 521.3–596.3 | 0.136 |
| Hg (μg/kg) | 25 | 604.0 | 322.0–962.5 | 25 | 514.0 | 266.5–965.0 | 0.607 |
| Women | |||||||
| Ca (mg/kg) | 25 | 735.0† | 509.5–885.0 | 25 | 936.0 | 722.5–1310.0 | 0.050 |
| Cr (μg/kg) | 25 | 482.0 | 229.0–1365.0 | 25 | 1230.0† | 535.5–3090.0 | 0.015 |
| Fe (mg/kg) | 25 | 8.8 | 6.5–13.5 | 25 | 14.1 | 8.9–27.8 | 0.010 |
| Co (μg/kg) | 25 | 4.5† | 3.0–6.1 | 25 | 14.7 | 9.8–33.2 | <0.001 |
| Ni (μg/kg) | 22 | 885.0 | 534.8–1425.0 | 21 | 887.0 | 297.0–1860.0 | 0.902 |
| Zn (mg/kg) | 25 | 97.0 | 90.1–111.0 | 25 | 110.0 | 103.0–123.5 | 0.012 |
| Se (μg/kg) | 25 | 577.0 | 534.5–680.0 | 25 | 588.0 | 549.5–387.0 | 0.861 |
| Hg (μg/kg) | 25 | 735.0 | 522.5–1065.0 | 25 | 555.0 | 387.0–695.0 | 0.010 |
Abbreviations: calcium (Ca); chromium (Cr); iron (Fe); cobalt (Co); nickel (Ni); zinc (Zn); selenium (Se); mercury (Hg); IQR, interquartile range.
*The significance of the differences between inactive and active participants within each sex was performed by Mann-Whitney U test.
† The significance of the differences between inactive and active participants between each sex was also performed by Mann-Whitney U test.