title: Dioxin-like compounds and endometriosis: a study on Italian and Belgian women of reproductive age.
abstract: Compounds with dioxin-like toxicity are suspected to adversely affect human reproduction even at current background exposures. Endometriosis, a gynecological disorder often associated with infertility, has been hypothesized to be linked to dioxins and similar chemicals, a hypothesis supported by the outcome of experimental studies on animal models. Endometriosis severity and incidence in Belgium is one of the highest of the world: in this country, the general population exposure to dioxin-like compounds has been, on average, higher than in most industrialized countries. Here we show the results of a pilot case-control study carried out on 22 Italian and 18 Belgian women of reproductive age, with and without endometriosis. No significant differences were found in dioxin-like compound body burdens between cases and controls on a country basis, whereas the body burdens of the Italian women resulted to be significantly lower than that of the Belgian. In particular, total TEQs in Italian and Belgian women without endometriosis were respectively 18 and 45 pg WHO-TE/g lb.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Comparative Toxicology and Ecotoxicology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy. defelip@iss.it
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Felip
authors.forename: Maria Grazia
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Porpora
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: di Domenico
authors.forename: Anna Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ingelido
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cardelli
authors.forename: Ermelando V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Cosmi
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Donnez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D001822:Body Burden; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004147:Dioxins / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000097:blood; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D010865:Pilot Projects
chemical_list: D004147:Dioxins; D004785:Environmental Pollutants