The sex-specific association of phthalate exposure with DNA methylation and characteristics of body fat in children

Lim²,

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

Phthalates are well-known endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Many detrimental health effects of phthalates were investigated, but studies on the association of phthalates with obesity in children showed inconsistent results. Thus, this systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to clarify whether prenatal and postnatal exposures to phthalates are associated with physical growth disturbances in children. We performed the systematic review and meta-analysis following the PRISMA 2020 statement guidelines, and found 39 studies that met our inclusion criteria, including 22 longitudinal and 17 cross-sectional studies. We observed a significant negative association between the prenatal exposure to DEHP and the body mass index (BMI) z-score of the offspring (β = − 0.05; 95% CI: − 0.10, − 0.001) in the meta-analysis, while no significant association between the prenatal exposure to DEHP and the body fat percentage of the offspring was observed (β = 0.01; 95% CI: − 0.41, 0.44). In the systematic review, studies on the association between phthalates exposure in childhood and obesity were inconsistent. Prenatal exposure to phthalates was found to be associated with decreased BMI z-score in children, but not associated with body fat percentage. Our findings suggest that phthalates disturb the normal muscle growth of children, rather than induce obesity, as previous studies have hypothesized.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal exposure to phthalate and decreased body mass index of children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Lim²,

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

“…Previous studies on DEHP exposure and fat mass were limited to children. Some studies reported that there was no correlation between DEHP exposure and adiposity 32,34,35 . Another report showed that the associations of DEHP exposure with body fat depended on the timing of exposure 33 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When using body mass index (BMI), weight, and waist circumference as parameters, some results showed that higher levels of urine DEHP metabolites showed a positive correlation [27][28][29] , while others showed no correlation 30 or an inverse association 31 . The relationship between DEHP exposure and body fat percentage has been most investigated in children, and the results are inconsistent [32][33][34][35] . In adults, however, there are only a few studies studying the association between DEHP exposure and lean mass/body fat percentage, and the results are also inconsistent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urine di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate metabolites are independently related to body fluid status in adults: Results from a U.S. nationally representative survey

Wang

et al. 2022

Preprint

Purpose Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) has been utilized in many daily products for decades. Previous studies have reported that DEHP exposure could induce renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system activation and increase epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) activity, which contributes to extracellular fluid (ECF) volume expansion. However, there is also no previous study to evaluate the association between DEHP exposure and body fluid status. Methods We selected 1,678 subjects (aged ≥ 18 years) from a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in 2003–2004 to determine the relationship among urine DEHP metabolites and body composition (body measures, bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA)). Results After weighing the sampling strategy in multiple linear regression analysis, we report that higher levels of DEHP metabolites are correlated with increases in body measures (body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference), BIA parameters (estimated fat mass, percent body fat, ECF, and ECF/intracellular fluid (ICF) ratio) in multiple linear regression analysis. The relationship between DEHP metabolites and the ECF/ICF ratio was more evident in subjects with younger age (20–39 years old), women, non-Hispanic white ethnicity, and subjects who were not active smokers. Conclusion In addition to being positively correlated with body measures and body fat, we found that urine DEHP metabolites were positively correlated with ECF and the ECF/ICF ratio in the US general adult population. Further research is needed to clarify the causal relationship.

“…Previous studies on DEHP exposure and fat mass were limited to children. Some studies reported there was no correlation between DEHP exposure and adiposity [30,32,33]. Another report showed the associations of DEHP exposure with body fat depended on the timing of exposure [31].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When using body mass index (BMI), weight, and waist as parameters, some results showed higher levels of urine DEHP metabolites showed positive correlation [25][26][27] while others showed no correlation [28], or an inverse association [29]. The relationship between DEHP exposure and body fat percentage has been most investigated in children, and the results were inconsistent [30][31][32][33]. In adults, however, there were only few studies studying the association between DEHP exposure and lean mass/body fat percentage and the results were also inconsistent.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Urine di-(2-Ethylhexyl) Phthalate Metabolites Are Independently Related To Body Fluid Status in Adults: Results From a U.S. Nationally Representative Survey

Wang

et al. 2021

Preprint

Background Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) has been utilized in many daily used products for decades. Previous studies have reported DEHP exposure could induce renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system activation and increase epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) activity, which contributes to extracellular fluid (ECF) volume expansion. However, there is also no previous study to evaluate the association between DEHP exposure and body fluid status. Methods We selected 1,678 subjects (aged ≧ 18 years) from a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in 2003–2004 to determine the relationship among urine DEHP metabolites and body composition (body measures, bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA)). Results After weighted for sampling strategy, we reported higher levels of DEHP metabolites was correlated with increases in body measures (body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist), parameters of BIA (estimated fat mass, percent body fat, ECF, and ECF /intracellular fluid (ICF) ratio) in multiple linear regression analysis. The relationship between DEHP metabolites with ECF/ICF ratio were more evident in subjects with younger age (20–39 year-old), women, non-Hispanic white ethnic, and subjects who were not active smokers. Conclusions Besides positively correlated with body measures and body fat, we found urine DEHP metabolites are positively correlated with ECF, ECF/ICF ratio in the US general adult population. It is necessary to do further research to clarify this causal relationship.