Inverse association of highly chlorinated dioxin congeners in maternal breast milk with dehydroepiandrosterone levels in three-year-old Vietnamese children

Teruhiko Kido; Seijiro Honma; Dang Duc Nhu; Ho Dung Manh; Dao Van Tung; Sun Xian Liang; Le Thai Anh; Rie Okamoto; Shoko Maruzeni; Hideaki Nakagawa; Nguyen Ngoc Hung; Le Ke Son

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.025

Inverse association of highly chlorinated dioxin congeners in maternal breast milk with dehydroepiandrosterone levels in three-year-old Vietnamese children

Sci Total Environ. 2016 Apr 15:550:248-255. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.025. Epub 2016 Jan 25.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Medical Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, 5-11-80 Kodatsuno, Kanazawa, Japan. Electronic address: kido@mhs.mp.kanazawa-u.ac.jp.
² Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Medical Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, 5-11-80 Kodatsuno, Kanazawa, Japan.
³ School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
⁴ Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Medical Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, 5-11-80 Kodatsuno, Kanazawa, Japan; Faculty of Pharmacy, Lac Hong University, No. 10 Huynh Van Nghe, Buu Long, Bien Hoa, Dong Nai, Viet Nam.
⁵ Hanoi Medical University, No.1 Ton That Tung, Dong Da, Hanoi, Viet Nam; Viettiep Hospital, No. 1 Nha Thuong, Le Chan, Hai Phong, Viet Nam.
⁶ Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Medical Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, 5-11-80 Kodatsuno, Kanazawa, Japan; Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Jiaxing University, 118 Jiahang Road, Jiaxing, Zhenjiang, China.
⁷ Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Kanazawa Medical University, 1-1 Daigaku, Uchinada, Ishikawa, Japan.
⁸ Hanoi Medical University, No.1 Ton That Tung, Dong Da, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
⁹ Environment Administration, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, 67 Nguyen Du Street, Hanoi, Viet Nam.

PMID: 26820928
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.025

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the endocrine-disrupting effect of dioxin congeners on adrenal steroid hormones in mother-child pairs. In our previous study, we found that cortisol and cortisone levels were higher in the blood and the saliva of mothers living in a dioxin hotspot area than in mothers from a non-exposed region in Vietnam. In this follow-up study, we determined the salivary steroid hormone levels in 49 and 55 three-year-old children of these mothers in the hotspot and non-exposed region, respectively. Steroid hormones were determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and dioxin in the maternal breast milk was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Dioxin levels in the breast milk of mothers from the hotspot (median total toxic equivalents polychlorinated dibenzodioxins/polychlorinated dibenzofurans; (TEQ PCDD/Fs) of 11pg/g lipid) were three to four times higher than those of mothers in the non-exposed region (median TEQ PCDD/Fs of 3.07pg/g lipid). Salivary dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) levels in children were found to be significantly lower in the hotspot than in the non-exposed region, while cortisol and cortisone levels were not different between the two regions. Highly chlorinated dioxin congeners, such as octacholorodibenzodioxin (OCDD), 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-heptacholorodibenzodioxin (HpCDD) and 1,2,3,4 (or 6), 7,8-hexachlorodibenzodioxin Hx(CDD), showed stronger inverse associations with the children's salivary DHEA than other lowly chlorinated dioxin congeners. Glucocorticoid levels in the mothers exhibited a significantly positive correlation with OCDD and HpCDD/F (polychlorinated dibenzofurans). In conclusion, highly chlorinated dioxin congeners are more strongly correlated with endocrine-disrupting effects on adrenal hormones, resulting in high cortisol levels in the mothers and low DHEA levels in their three-year-old children.

Keywords: Cortisol; Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA); Dioxin; Endocrine-disruption; Vietnamese children.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Child
Dehydroepiandrosterone / metabolism*
Dioxins / analysis
Dioxins / metabolism*
Environmental Exposure / analysis
Environmental Exposure / statistics & numerical data*
Environmental Pollutants / analysis
Environmental Pollutants / metabolism*
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Maternal Exposure / statistics & numerical data
Milk, Human / metabolism*
Vietnam
Young Adult

Substances

Dioxins
Environmental Pollutants
Dehydroepiandrosterone