Associations between CB-153 and p,p'-DDE and hormone levels in serum in middle-aged and elderly men.
BACKGROUND
Animal and epidemiologic data indicate that exposure to persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs) may disrupt the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) and the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axes. We have assessed whether the POP-biomarkers 2,2'4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (CB-153) and 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)-ethene (p,p'-DDE) affect thyrotropin (TSH), thyroid hormones, gonadotropins or sex hormone concentrations in men.


METHODS
Lipid adjusted serum concentrations of CB-153, and p,p'-DDE, were determined in 196 men (median age 59 years, range 48-82). Hormone analyses in serum were performed with immunoassays. The effect of CB-153 and p,p'-DDE (as continuous or categorized variables) were evaluated by linear regression models, adjusting for potential confounders.


RESULTS
There was a significant positive association between p,p'-DDE and TSH. An increase of 100 ng/g lipid of p,p'-DDE corresponded to an increase of 0.03 mU/l (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.01, 0.05) in TSH level. The explanatory value (R(2)) of the multivariate model was only 7%. Moreover, there was a significant negative association between p,p'-DDE and estradiol. An increase of 100 ng/g lipid of p,p'-DDE corresponded to a decrease of 0.57 pmol/l (95% CI -1.0, -0.12) in estradiol level. The R(2)-value was only 4%. No associations were observed between any of the POP biomarkers and the other hormones.


CONCLUSIONS
The positive association between p,p'-DDE and TSH and the negative association between p,p'-DDE and estradiol, among middle-aged and elderly men, were not accompanied by associations between the POP-markers and thyroxin, testosterone, and gonadotropins, respectively. The results gives some additional support for that POP exposure may affect HPT- and HPG-axes also in humans, but the overall epidemiological data are still not coherent enough to allow any firm conclusions.
Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and Psychiatric Epidemiology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Lund University Hospital, SE-221 85 Lund, Sweden.
Lars
L
Rylander
Ewa
E
Wallin
Bo A G
BA
Jönssson
Mats
M
Stridsberg
Eva Marie
EM
Erfurth
Lars
L
Hagmar
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000097:blood*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003633:Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene / Q000097:blood*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000097:blood; D006062:Gonadotropins / Q000097:blood; D006728:Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000097:blood*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D013963:Thyroid Hormones / Q000097:blood; D013972:Thyrotropin / Q000097:blood
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; D006062:Gonadotropins; D006728:Hormones; D013963:Thyroid Hormones; D003633:Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene; D013972:Thyrotropin; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls; C014024:2,4,5,2',4',5'-hexachlorobiphenyl