Exposure to parabens and dysglycemia: Insights from a Chinese population

Yu Song; Mian Wang; Luting Nie; Wei Liao; Dandan Wei; Lulu Wang; Juan Wang; Qingqing Xu; Changsheng Huan; Zexin Jia; Zhenxing Mao; Chongjian Wang; Wenqian Huo

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139868

Exposure to parabens and dysglycemia: Insights from a Chinese population

Chemosphere. 2023 Nov:340:139868. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139868. Epub 2023 Aug 17.

Authors

Yu Song¹, Mian Wang¹, Luting Nie¹, Wei Liao², Dandan Wei², Lulu Wang², Juan Wang², Qingqing Xu², Changsheng Huan¹, Zexin Jia¹, Zhenxing Mao², Chongjian Wang², Wenqian Huo³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China.
² Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China.
³ Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China. Electronic address: huowenqian@zzu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37597620
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139868

Abstract

Background: Parabens, a widely exposed environmental endocrine disruptor, were reported to disturb glucose metabolism through various pathways in animal models, but epidemiologic studies are limited. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the plasma parabens level in rural populations and their effects of single and mixed paraben exposure on T2DM based on the Henan Rural Cohort.

Methods: A total of 1713 participants (880 T2DM and 833 controls) from the Henan Rural Cohort Study were included in this case-control study. Generalized linear regression models were performed to assess the single and joint effects of parabens on T2DM and glucose metabolism indicators. In addition, the dose-response relationship of plasma parabens with T2DM and glucose metabolism indicators were explored by the restricted cubic splines. Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) and quantile g-computation models were utilized to assess overall associations of paraben mixtures with T2DM and glucose metabolism indicators.

Results: Σparabens and methylparaben (MeP) exposure significantly increased the risk of T2DM (P < 0.01). However, ethylparaben (EtP) and butylparaben (BuP) were negatively related to T2DM (P < 0.01). Notably, non-linear relationships of EtP and BuP with T2DM were observed. When the level of EtP or BuP was above the inflection point observed in dose-response curve, the ORs and 95% CIs were 1.453 (1.252, 1.686) and 1.982 (1.444, 2.721), respectively. Moreover, the result of quantile g-computation also showed that exposure to high concentration of parabens mixture was positively related to the risk of T2DM. BKMR model indicated that parabens mixture was associated with glycometabolism following a U-shape and parabens mixture increased the risk of dysglycemia when all parabens concentrations were at or above their 55th percentile compared with the median.

Conclusion: MeP or paraben mixture exposure levels showed a linear positive association with risk of T2DM. EtP and BuP were nonlinearly associated with glucose metabolism and moderate-high exposure contributed to T2DM.

Keywords: Mixed exposures; Parabens; Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

MeSH terms

Bayes Theorem
Case-Control Studies
Cohort Studies
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2*
East Asian People
Glucose
Humans
Parabens* / toxicity

Substances

butylparaben
ethyl-p-hydroxybenzoate
Glucose
methylparaben
Parabens