Gender- and Age-Group
Specific Association of Persistent
Organic Pollutants (POPs) Exposure with Diabetes Mellitus: Korean
National Environmental Health Survey (KoNEHS) 2015–2017
posted on 2024-03-15, 19:10authored byInae Lee, Min Joo Kim, Sohyeon Choi, Young Joo Park, Jeongim Park, Gökçe Nur Ayaz, Gowoon Lee, Yoon Hee Cho, Hye Li Jeon, Chulwoo Lee, Gi Jeong Cheon, Min Kyong Moon, Kyungho Choi
Exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) has
been reported
as a potential risk factor for diabetes in adults. However, effect
modifications by sex and age, especially among Asian populations,
have seldom been investigated. In the present study, we assessed associations
of major POPs exposure including organochlorine pesticides (OCPs),
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers
(PBDEs), with diabetes in Korean adults (n = 1,295),
a subset of the Korean National Environmental Health Survey (KoNEHS)
Cycle 3 (2015–2017). In the adult population, serum levels
of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) and PCB167 showed an increased
odds ratio (OR) for diabetes. When stratified by gender, associations
became stronger and more consistent in women: In women, serum levels
of OCPs including p,p′-DDT, p,p′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene
(p,p′-DDE), and ΣOCPs
and mono-ortho PCBs, such as PCB118 and PCB157, were significantly
associated with diabetes. In the male participants, however, no significant
positive associations were detected. When stratified by a cutoff age
of 50 years, most studied POPs except PBDEs, i.e., p,p′-DDT, p,p′-DDE, PCB118, PCB157, PCB167, PCB138, and PCB153, showed
significant associations with diabetes, in the older adults. In the
younger group, however, no measured POPs showed a significant positive
association. Effects of endogenous sex hormones or interaction of
POPs on aryl hydrocarbon receptors may partly explain the observed
differences by gender and age, although further experimental confirmations
should follow. Our findings show that POPs exposure at the current
levels is associated with diabetes among general Korean adults, and
such associations could be modified by gender and age.