Outdoor artificial light at night exposure and gestational diabetes mellitus: a case-control study

Qi Sun; Fang Ye; Jing Liu; Yang Yang; Qin Hui; Yuanmei Chen; Die Liu; Jianning Guo; Chao Wang; Di Lv; Lijuan Tang; Qi Zhang

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2024.1396198

Outdoor artificial light at night exposure and gestational diabetes mellitus: a case-control study

Front Public Health. 2024 Apr 10:12:1396198. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1396198. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Qi Sun^{1

2}, Fang Ye¹, Jing Liu^{1

3}, Yang Yang¹, Qin Hui¹, Yuanmei Chen¹, Die Liu¹, Jianning Guo¹, Chao Wang^{1

3}, Di Lv^{1

3}, Lijuan Tang^{1

3}, Qi Zhang^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ National Center for Respiratory Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Health and Multimorbidity, Department of Pediatrics, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
² Precision and Smart Imaging Laboratory, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
³ Graduate School of Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to explore the association between outdoor artificial light at night (ALAN) exposure and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Methods: This study is a retrospective case-control study. According with quantiles, ALAN has been classified into three categories (Q1-Q3). GDM was diagnosed through oral glucose tolerance tests. Conditional logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between ALAN exposure and GDM risk. The odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to assess the association. Restricted cubic spline analysis (RCS) was utilized to investigate the no liner association between ALAN and GDM.

Results: A total of 5,720 participants were included, comprising 1,430 individuals with GDM and 4,290 matched controls. Pregnant women exposed to higher levels of ALAN during the first trimester exhibited an elevated risk of GDM compared to those with lower exposure levels (Q2 OR = 1.39, 95% CI 1.20-1.63, p < 0.001); (Q3 OR = 1.70, 95% CI 1.44-2.00, p < 0.001). Similarly, elevated ALAN exposure during the second trimester also conferred an increased risk of GDM (second trimester: Q2 OR = 1.70, 95% CI 1.45-1.98, p < 0.001; Q3 OR = 2.08, 95% CI 1.77-2.44, p < 0.001). RCS showed a nonlinear association between ALAN exposure and GDM risk in second trimester pregnancy, with a threshold value of 4.235.

Conclusion: Outdoor ALAN exposure during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of GDM.

Keywords: air pollution; gestational diabetes mellitus; outdoor artificial light; pregnancy; risk factors.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Case-Control Studies
China / epidemiology
Diabetes, Gestational* / etiology
Female
Glucose Tolerance Test
Humans
Lighting / adverse effects
Logistic Models
Pregnancy
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was funded by MOE Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle (No: JK20225), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Clinical and Translational Medicine Research Project (No: 2021-I2M-C&T-B-089), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (No: 2021-I2M-1-049), and a grant from State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System.