title: Pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in cerebrospinal fluid of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients: a case-control study.
abstract: Neurotoxic chemicals including several pesticides have been suggested to play a role in the etiology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We investigated the relation between organochlorine pesticides and their metabolites (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the etiology of sporadic ALS, determining for the first time their levels in cerebrospinal fluid as indicator of antecedent exposure. We recruited 38 ALS patients and 38 controls referred to an Italian clinical center for ALS care, who underwent a lumbar puncture for diagnostic purposes between 1994-2013, and had 1mL of cerebrospinal fluid available for the determination of OCPs, PCBs and PAHs. Many chemicals were undetectable in both case and control CSF samples, and we found little evidence of any increased disease risk according to higher levels of exposure. Among males >60 years, we found a slight but statistically very unstable increased ALS risk with higher levels of the congener PCB 28 and the OCP metabolite p,p'-DDE. Overall, these results do not suggest an involvement of the neurotoxic chemicals investigated in this study in disease etiology, although small numbers limited the precision of our results.
authors.affiliation: Environmental, Genetic and Nutritional Epidemiology Research Center (CREAGEN), University of Modena and Reggio Emilia; via Campi 287, Modena (MO) 41125, Italy; Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St., Boston, 02118 MA, United States. Electronic address: marco.vinceti@unimore.it.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vinceti
authors.affiliation: Environmental, Genetic and Nutritional Epidemiology Research Center (CREAGEN), University of Modena and Reggio Emilia; via Campi 287, Modena (MO) 41125, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Violi
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Sciences and Toxicology, University of Crete, 71409 Heraklion, Greece.
authors.forename: Manolis
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tzatzarakis
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Sant'Agostino-Estense Hospital, Local Health Unit of Modena, Via P. Giardini 1355, 41126 Baggiovara, Modena MO, Italy.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mandrioli
authors.affiliation: Environmental, Genetic and Nutritional Epidemiology Research Center (CREAGEN), University of Modena and Reggio Emilia; via Campi 287, Modena (MO) 41125, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlotta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Malagoli
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St., Boston, 02118 MA, United States.
authors.forename: Elizabeth E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Hatch
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Sant'Agostino-Estense Hospital, Local Health Unit of Modena, Via P. Giardini 1355, 41126 Baggiovara, Modena MO, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fini
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Sant'Agostino-Estense Hospital, Local Health Unit of Modena, Via P. Giardini 1355, 41126 Baggiovara, Modena MO, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fasano
authors.affiliation: Federal Scientific Center of Hygiene, F.F. Erisman, 2, Semashko street, Mytishchi, Moscow region 141014 Russia.
authors.forename: Valerii N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Rakitskii
authors.affiliation: Department of the Environment, University of the Aegean, University Hill, Mytilene 8110 Greece.
authors.forename: Olga-Ioanna
authors.initials: OI
authors.lastname: Kalantzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Sciences and Toxicology, University of Crete, 71409 Heraklion, Greece.
authors.forename: Aristides
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsatsakis
mesh_terms: D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010575:Pesticides / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D010575:Pesticides; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
keywords: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Case-control study; Environment; Persistent organic pollutants; Pesticides; Risk