Polychlorinated biphenyl serum levels in pregnant subjects with diabetes.
OBJECTIVE
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent pollutants that are ubiquitous in the food chain; detectable amounts are in the blood of nearly everyone. Their effect on humans at background levels of exposure is an area of active investigation. Increased blood levels of dioxin (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin), a PCB-like compound, have recently been reported among subjects with diabetes, suggesting that PCB levels could be similarly elevated. To test this hypothesis, we examined a group of pregnant women whose serum PCB levels had been measured and whose diabetes status had been previously recorded.


METHODS
Using stored serum from a large birth cohort study, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 2,245 pregnant women, of whom 44 had diabetes (primarily type 1) and 2,201 were control subjects.


RESULTS
The adjusted mean serum level of PCBs among the subjects with diabetes was 30% higher than in the control subjects (P = 0.0002), and the relationship of PCB level to adjusted odds of diabetes was linear.


CONCLUSIONS
The possibility exists that PCBs and diabetes are causality related; alternatively, the pharmacokinetics of PCBs could be altered among patients with diabetes. At any event, if the association is replicated in other studies, increased serum levels of PCBs in subjects with diabetes or their offspring may put them at increased risk of PCB-induced changes in thyroid metabolism or neurodevelopment.
Longnecker
M P
MP
Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA. longnecker@niehs.nih.gov
Klebanoff
M A
MA
Brock
J W
JW
Zhou
H
H
D000328:Adult; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000097:blood*; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins / Q000097:blood; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D011254:Pregnancy in Diabetics / Q000097:blood*; D044469:Racial Groups; D012016:Reference Values; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D014481:United States
D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls