title: Associations Between Selected Xenobiotics and Antinuclear Antibodies in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2004.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Potential associations between background environmental chemical exposures and autoimmunity are understudied.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our exploratory study investigated exposure to individual environmental chemicals and selected mixtures in relation to the presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA), a widely used biomarker of autoimmunity, in a representative sample of the U.S.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional analysis used data on 4,340 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2004), of whom 14% were ANA positive, to explore associations between ANA and concentrations of dioxins, dibenzofurans, polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorines, organophosphates, phenols, metals, and other environmental exposures and metabolites measured in participants' serum, whole blood, or urine. For dioxin-like compounds with toxic equivalency factors, we developed and applied a new statistical approach to study selected mixtures. Lognormal models and censored-data methods produced estimates of chemical associations with ANA in males, nulliparous females, and parous females; these estimates were adjusted for confounders and accommodated concentrations below detectable levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Several associations between chemical concentration and ANA positivity were observed, but only the association in males exposed to triclosan remained statistically significant after correcting for multiple comparisons (mean concentration ratio = 2.8; 95% CI: 1.8, 4.5; p < 0.00001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data suggest that background levels of most xenobiotic exposures typical in the U.S. population are not strongly associated with ANA. Future studies should ideally reduce exposure misclassification by including prospective measurement of the chemicals of concern and should track changes in ANA and other autoantibodies over time.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Dinse GE, Jusko TA, Whitt IZ, Co CA, Parks CG, Satoh M, Chan EKL, Rose KM, Walker NJ, Birnbaum LS, Zeldin DC, Weinberg CR, Miller FW. 2016. Associations between selected xenobiotics and antinuclear antibodies in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2004. Environ Health Perspect 124:426-436; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1409345.
authors.affiliation: Biostatistics Center, Social & Scientific Systems, Inc., Durham, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Gregg E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Dinse
authors.forename: Todd A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Jusko
authors.forename: Irene Z
authors.initials: IZ
authors.lastname: Whitt
authors.forename: Caroll A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Co
authors.forename: Christine G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Parks
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: Edward K L
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Kathryn M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: Nigel J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Linda S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Birnbaum
authors.forename: Darryl C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Zeldin
authors.forename: Clarice R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Weinberg
authors.forename: Frederick W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D014260:Triclosan / Q000097:blood*; D015262:Xenobiotics / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D015262:Xenobiotics; D014260:Triclosan