Association of urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites with cardiometabolic risk factors and obesity in children and adolescents

Mohammad Mehdi Amin; Karim Ebrahimpour; Saeed Parastar; Bahareh Shoshtari-Yeganeh; Majid Hashemi; Marjan Mansourian; Parinaz Poursafa; Zahra Fallah; Nasim Rafiei; Roya Kelishadi

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.07.172

Association of urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites with cardiometabolic risk factors and obesity in children and adolescents

Chemosphere. 2018 Nov:211:547-556. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.07.172. Epub 2018 Jul 31.

Affiliations

¹ Environment Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran; Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
² Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran; Student Research Committee, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
³ Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran; Student Research Committee, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran; Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Electronic address: mhashemi120@gmail.com.
⁴ Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
⁵ Environment Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
⁶ Student Research Committee, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran; Child Growth and Development Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
⁷ Child Growth and Development Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.

PMID: 30092535
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.07.172

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the association of urinary concentration of phthalate metabolites with obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors in a pediatric population. This study was conducted in 2016 on 242 children and adolescents, aged 6-18 years, living in Isfahan, Iran. Urinary concentration of mono-butyl phthalate (MBP), mono-benzyl phthalate (MBzP), Mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP), Mono-methyl phthalate (MMP), Mono (2-ethyl-5-exohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP), and mono (2-ethyl-5hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP) metabolites were determined. The association of these metabolites with obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors was examined using student t-test, linear and logistics regression tests. Of the 242 participants studied, 140 (57.9%) were girls and 102 (42.1%) were boys. The mean (SD) age of the population was 11.34 (2.55) years and no significant difference existed in terms of age (p-value = 0.374). MBzP, MBP, MMP were observed in urine samples of all subjects, and MEHP, MEOHP, and MEHHP were observed in 99.6, 95.87, and 96.28% of the subjects, respectively. Of the total participants, 15.2% (n = 37) were obese and 37.7% (n = 92) were overweight. According to the logistic regression analysis, except MEOHP, all other pollutants were significantly associated with obesity (OR _adjusted >1, p-value ≤ 0.002). A significant association existed between MBP and elevated blood pressure [OR _crude in tertile3 = 4.87 (CI: 1.02-23.32), p-value = 0.024]. MBzP and MEHP were significantly associated with obesity, elevated levels of triglyceride and blood pressure. Increase in MBzP metabolite in the 3rd tertile resulted to about 2.5-fold increase in triglyceride levels than the first tertile [OR _{multivariate adjusted} = 2.7 (CI: 1.23-6.22)]. The findings of this study clearly showed the association between phthalate metabolites with obesity, cardiometabolic risk factors in children and adolescents, however further longitudinal studies are necessary to evaluate the clinical effects of this finding.

Keywords: Endocrine disrupting chemicals; Obesity; Pediatric; Phthalate; Urinary metabolites.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Child
Environmental Exposure / analysis
Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Obesity / urine*
Phthalic Acids / chemistry*
Risk Factors

Substances

Phthalic Acids
phthalic acid