Prediagnostic plasma concentrations of organochlorines and risk of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma in envirogenomarkers: a nested case-control study

Abstract

BackgroundEvidence suggests a largely environmental component to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), DDE and HCB have been repeatedly implicated, but the literature is inconsistent and a causal relationship remains to be determined.MethodsThe EnviroGenoMarkers study is nested within two prospective cohorts EPIC-Italy and the Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study. Six PCB congeners, DDE and HCB were measured in blood plasma samples provided at recruitment using gas-chromatography mass spectrometry. During 16 years follow-up 270 incident cases of B-cell NHL (including 76 cases of multiple myeloma) were diagnosed. Cases were matched to 270 healthy controls by centre, age, gender and date of blood collection. Cases were categorised into ordered quartiles of exposure for each POP based on the distribution of exposure in the control population. Logistic regression was applied to assess the association with risk, multivariate and stratified analyses were performed to identify confounders or effect modifiers.ResultsThe exposures displayed a strong degree of correlation, particularly amongst those PCBs with similar degrees of chlorination. There was no significant difference (p < 0.05) in median exposure levels between cases and controls for any of the investigated exposures. However under a multivariate model PCB138, PCB153, HCB and DDE displayed significant inverse trends (Wald test p-value <0.05). Under stratified analyses these were determined to be driven by males and by the Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma subtype. When considering those in the highest levels of exposure (>90th percentile) the association was null for all POPsConclusionWe report no evidence that a higher body burden of PCBs, DDE or HCB increased the risk of subsequent NHL diagnosis. Significantly inverse associations were noted for males with a number of the investigated POPs. We hypothesize these unexpected relationships may relate to the subtype composition of our population, effect modification by BMI or other unmeasured confounding. This study provides no additional support for the previously observed role of PCBs, DDE and HCB as risk factors for NHL.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12940-017-0214-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Impact of Persistent Organic Pollutants on AIDS Progression and All-Cause Mortality. A Longitudinal Study in HIV-2 Infected Individuals in Guinea-Bissau

“…Serum levels of some of the OC pesticides were up to 2.5-5 fold higher than in previous studies from high income countries, while PCB and PBDE levels were lower (34,35). The lower levels of PCBs seen in our study compared to high income countries could also be a partial explanation to why we did not nd any association between exposure to PCBs and all-cause mortality.…”

“…The CD4 counts at rst assessment were signi cantly lower among progressors than in non-progressors (median 226.0 vs 556.7, p < .001), and the difference was even larger at the last CD4 determination (median 140.1 vs 405.8, p < .001). Serum levels of p,p´-DDT and its metabolite p,p´-DDE, HCB, β-HCH and trans-nonachlor were generally high in both groups, compared to levels found in Europe and the US (34,35), but not signi cantly different between progressors and non-progressors in the univariate analysis (Table 1). There were no signi cant association of serum levels of POP in non-progressors compared to progressors by logistic regression analyses adjusted for age and sex (Fig.…”

MicroRNA profile for health risk assessment: Environmental exposure to persistent organic pollutants strongly affects the human blood microRNA machinery

“…We examined the impact of 6 PCB congeners, HCB and DDE on the blood miRNA machinery of a total of 207 subjects. The individual levels of PCB153, PCB138, PCB156, PCB170, PCB180, HCB and DDE 13 highly correlated with the cumulative Z-Score (correlation coefficient (r) between 0.81 and 0.98) (Fig. 1 ).…”

“…Serum concentrations of 6 PCB congeners (PCB118, PCB153, PCB138, PCB156, PCB170 and PCB180), DDE and HCB were determined by means of a Agilent 6890 gas chromatographer connected to a Waters Autospec Ultima high resolution mass spectrometer as described in an earlier study on the exposure data 12 , 13 . Per subject we calculated a Z-Score (POPs) as a representative of the internal exposure to the mixture of POPs.…”

A systematic review and meta-analysis of occupational exposures and risk of follicular lymphoma

“…Five case-control studies examined plasma DDE concentration (n=255). Our dose-response metaanalysis for the four studies (Bertrand et al 2010;Kelly et al 2017;Laden et al 2010;Spinelli et al 2007) reporting risk for highest vs. lowest plasma level was 1.51 (95% CI=0.99, 2.31; I 2 =0.0%, p=0.732) (Table 1, Supplemental Fig. 2).…”