title: Associations between urinary biomarkers of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure and reproductive function during menstrual cycles in women.
abstract: Essentially all women are exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), formed during incomplete combustion of organic materials, including fossil fuels, wood, foods, and tobacco. PAHs are ovarian toxicants in rodents, and cigarette smoking is associated with reproductive abnormalities in women. Biomonitoring of hydroxylated PAH (OH-PAH) metabolites in urine provides an integrated measure of exposure to PAHs via multiple routes and has been used to characterize exposure to PAHs in humans. We hypothesized that concentrations of OH-PAHs in urine are associated with reproductive function in women. We recruited women 18-44years old, living in Orange County, California to conduct daily measurement of urinary luteinizing hormone (LH) and estrone 3-glucuronide (E13G) using a microelectronic fertility monitor for multiple menstrual cycles; these data were used to calculate endocrine endpoints. Participants also collected urine samples on cycle day 10 for measurement of nine OH-PAHs. Models were constructed for eight endpoints using a Bayesian mixed modeling approach with subject-specific random effects allowing each participant to act as a baseline for her set of measurements. We observed associations between individual OH-PAH concentrations and follicular phase length, follicular phase LH and E13G concentrations, preovulatory LH surge concentrations, and periovulatory E13G slope and concentration. We have demonstrated the feasibility of using urinary reproductive hormone data obtained via fertility monitors to calculate endocrine endpoints for epidemiological studies of ovarian function during multiple menstrual cycles. The results show that environmental exposure to PAHs is associated with changes in endocrine markers of ovarian function in women in a PAH-specific manner.
authors.affiliation: Center for Occupational and Environmental Health and Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California Irvine, 100 Theory, Suite 100, Irvine, CA 92617, USA; Dept of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA; Program in Public Health, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA. Electronic address: uluderer@uci.edu.
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Luderer
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA. Electronic address: fchriste@uci.edu.
authors.forename: Fletcher
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA. Electronic address: wjohnson@ics.uci.edu.
authors.forename: Wesley O
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Environmental Health Laboratory Branch, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, CA, USA. Electronic address: Jianwen.She@cdph.ca.gov.
authors.forename: Jianwen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: She
authors.affiliation: Environmental Health Laboratory Branch, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Ho Sai Simon
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Ip
authors.affiliation: Environmental Health Laboratory Branch, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Junqiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Environmental Health Laboratory Branch, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Josephine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alvaran
authors.affiliation: Division of Applied Research and Technology, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health Service, US Department of Health and Human Services, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA. Electronic address: erk3@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Edward F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Krieg
authors.affiliation: Division of Applied Research and Technology, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health Service, US Department of Health and Human Services, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA. Electronic address: jsk4@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: James S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kesner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine; D002140:California; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000652:urine*; D004970:Estrone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000652:urine*; D008597:Menstrual Cycle / Q000187:drug effects*; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000652:urine*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; C015856:estrone-3-glucuronide; D004970:Estrone; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone
keywords: Estradiol; Luteinizing hormone; Menstrual cycle; Ovarian function; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon; Reproduction