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Collection of Alfalfa Root Exudates to Study the Impact of Di(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate on Metabolite Production
Published on: June 2, 2023
Phthalates and risk of endometriosis
Kristen Upson1, Sheela Sathyanarayana, Anneclaire J De Roos
1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
Background:
Phthalates are ubiquitous environmental chemicals with endocrine disruptive properties. The impact of these chemicals on endocrine-related disease in reproductive-age women is not well understood.
Objective:
To investigate the relationship between urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations and the risk of a hormonally-driven disease, endometriosis, in reproductive-age women.
Methods:
We used data from a population-based case-control study of endometriosis, conducted among female enrollees of a large healthcare system in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. We measured urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations on incident, surgically-confirmed cases (n=92) diagnosed between 1996 and 2001 and population-based controls (n=195). Odds ratios (OR), and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using unconditional logistic regression, adjusting for urinary creatinine concentrations, age, and reference year.
Results:
The majority of women in our study had detectable concentrations of phthalate metabolites. We observed a strong inverse association between urinary mono-(2-ethyl-5-hexyl) phthalate (MEHP) concentration and endometriosis risk, particularly when comparing the fourth and first MEHP quartiles (aOR 0.3, 95% CI: 0.1-0.7). Our data suggested an inverse association between endometriosis and urinary concentrations of other di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) metabolites (mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP)) and ∑DEHP, however, the confidence intervals include the null. Our data also suggested increased endometriosis risk with greater urinary concentrations of mono-benzyl phthalate (MBzP) and mono-ethyl phthalate (MEP), although the associations were not statistically significant.
Conclusions:
Exposure to select phthalates is ubiquitous among female enrollees of a large healthcare system in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The findings from our study suggest that phthalates may alter the risk of a hormonally-mediated disease among reproductive-age women.
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