Bisphenol A exposure and abnormal glucose tolerance during pregnancy: systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

In the present work, a systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to examine the probable relation between maternal exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), as estrogen-disrupting compounds, and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). We comprehensively searched three electronic databases to retrieve published studies on maternal exposure to BPA and GDM/IGT, through February 2021. Cochran's Q test and I² statistics were employed for testing heterogeneity across studies. DerSimonian and Liard random-effects model was used to determine the pooled estimates. Otherwise, the fixed-effects model with inverse-variance weights was applied. Sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the robustness of the results by excluding each study from the pooled estimate. The potential publication bias was examined using Begg's and Egger's tests. The pooled odds ratio did not show BPA exposure to be a significant risk factor for GDM (OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.62-1.33, I²: 50.7%). Also, no significant association was observed between BPA exposure and risk of IGT (OR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.40-2.18, I²: 11.5%). Based on the findings of this study, no association was found between exposure to BPA during pregnancy and the risk of GDM/IGT. Albeit no heterogeneity was found between studies.

Keywords: Bisphenol A; Environmental impact; Gestational diabetes mellitus; Impaired glucose tolerance; Meta-analysis.