title: Low birth weight of Vietnamese infants is related to their mother's dioxin and glucocorticoid levels.
abstract: We aimed to determine the relationship between dioxin congeners in maternal breast milk and maternal glucocorticoid levels with newborn birth weight after nearly 45 years of use of herbicides in the Vietnam War. The study subjects comprised 58 mother-infant pairs in a region with high dioxin levels in the soil (hotspot) and 62 pairs from a control region. Dioxin levels in maternal breast milk were measured by HRGC-HRMS. Salivary glucocorticoid levels were determined by LC-MS/MS. Dioxin congener levels in mothers from the hotspot were found to be two to fivefold higher than those in mothers from the control region. Birth weight was inversely correlated with 2,3,7,8-TeCDD and 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF congener levels. The rate of newborns whose birth weight was less than 2500 g was threefold higher in the hotspot (12 %) than in the control region (4 %). Salivary glucocorticoid levels in mothers with low birth weight infants were significantly higher than those in the normal birth weight group. Low birth weight of Vietnamese newborns in a hotspot for dioxin levels is related to some dioxin congener levels and high glucocorticoid levels in mothers. This finding in mother-infant pairs suggests that excess maternal glucocorticoid levels are related to dioxin burden and they result in low birth weight.
authors.affiliation: Hanoi Medical University, No. 1 Ton That Tung, Dong Da, Hanoi, Vietnam.|Viettiep Hospital, No. 1 Nha Thuong, Le Chan, Hai Phong, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Dao
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Van Tung
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Medical Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, 5-11-80 Kodatsuno, Kanazawa, 920-0942, Japan. kido@mhs.mp.kanazawa-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Teruhiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kido
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Medical Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, 5-11-80 Kodatsuno, Kanazawa, 920-0942, Japan.
authors.forename: Seijiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Honma
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Medical Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, 5-11-80 Kodatsuno, Kanazawa, 920-0942, Japan.|Faculty of Pharmacy, Lac Hong University, Bien Hoa, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Ho Dung
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Manh
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Medical Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, 5-11-80 Kodatsuno, Kanazawa, 920-0942, Japan.|School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Dang Duc
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Nhu
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Medical Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, 5-11-80 Kodatsuno, Kanazawa, 920-0942, Japan.
authors.forename: Rie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Medical Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, 5-11-80 Kodatsuno, Kanazawa, 920-0942, Japan.|Department of Public Health, Kanazawa Medical University, 1-1 Daigaku, Uchinada, Ishikawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Shoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maruzeni
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Kanazawa Medical University, 1-1 Daigaku, Uchinada, Ishikawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Muneko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nishijo
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Kanazawa Medical University, 1-1 Daigaku, Uchinada, Ishikawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.affiliation: Hanoi Medical University, No. 1 Ton That Tung, Dong Da, Hanoi, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Pham Thien
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Ngoc
authors.affiliation: Hanoi Medical University, No. 1 Ton That Tung, Dong Da, Hanoi, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Ngo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Van Toan
authors.affiliation: Hanoi Medical University, No. 1 Ton That Tung, Dong Da, Hanoi, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Nguyen Ngoc
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.affiliation: Environment Administration, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, No. 67 Nguyen Du Street, Hanoi, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Nguyen Hung
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Minh
authors.affiliation: Environment Administration, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, No. 67 Nguyen Du Street, Hanoi, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Le Ke
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Son
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004147:Dioxins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000378:metabolism*; D006540:Herbicides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000378:metabolism*; D009035:Mothers; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D014744:Vietnam
chemical_list: D004147:Dioxins; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D006540:Herbicides; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; D012989:Soil Pollutants
keywords: Dioxin congener; Dioxin hotspot; Glucocorticoid; Growth parameter; Low birth weight; Vietnam