The effect of diazinon on blood glucose homeostasis: a systematic and meta-analysis study

Though evidence exists on the association between diazinon (DZN), an organophosphate pesticide, with hyperglycemia, contrasting reports also exist. Herein, we performed a systematic and meta-analysis study to address this issue. A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Ovid Medline, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science up to April 5, 2020, searching for animal studies (rodents and fish) that assessed the impact of DZN on blood glucose concentration. The risk of bias was assessed by the SYRCLE's RoB scale. Once each article's quality was assessed, a random-effects meta-regression was used to pool the data into a meta-analysis. Heterogeneity between the studies was evaluated with the I square and Q test. Random-effect meta-analysis of 19 studies (I² = 90.5%, p < 0.001) indicated low heterogeneity between the studies. DZN significantly increased blood glucose levels in the exposed versus control groups (95% CI: 2.46-4.94; Z = 5.86; p < 0.001). Subgroup analysis indicated that the effect of high-dose (3.40 (95% CI: 2.03-4.76)) DZN on changes in blood glucose was more pronounced than in the low dose (4.83 (95% CI: 1.56-8.11)). It was also ascertained that the blood glucose level was significantly higher in females (3.55 (95% CI: 2.21-4.89)) versus males (4.87 (95% CI: 0.20-9.55)) exposed to DZN. No publication bias was observed. Sensitivity analysis showed the robustness of the (standardized mean differences: 3.26-4.03). Our findings establish an association between DZN exposure and hyperglycemia in rodents and fish, which is both dose- and gender-dependent.