Department of Public Health, Kanazawa Medical University, Uchinada, Ishikawa 920-0293, Japan.
Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research Center, Vietnamese Military Medical University, Hanoi 193824, Vietnam.
Nutrients. 2021 Apr 25;13(5):1455. doi: 10.3390/nu13051455.
Dioxins have been suggested to induce inflammation in the intestine and brain and to induce neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), partly due to deficits in parvalbumin-positive neurons in the brain that are sensitive to inflammatory stress. Previously, we reported ADHD traits with increased aggressiveness in children with prenatal exposure to dioxins in Vietnam, whereas dried bonito broth (DBB) has been reported to suppress inflammation and inhibit aggressive behavior in animal and human studies. In the present study, we investigated the association between dioxin exposure and the prevalence of children with highly aggressive behaviors (Study 1), as well as the effects of DBB on the prevalence of children with highly aggressive behaviors (Study 2).
In Study 1, we investigated the effects of dioxin exposure on the prevalence of children with high aggression scores, which were assessed using the Children's Scale of Hostility and Aggression: Reactive/Proactive (C-SHARP) in dioxin-contaminated areas. The data were analyzed using a logistic regression model after adjusting for confounding factors. In Study 2, we performed nutritional intervention by administering DBB for 60 days to ameliorate the aggressiveness of children with high scores on the C-SHARP aggression scale. The effects of DBB were assessed by comparing the prevalence of children with high C-SHARP scores between the pre- and post-intervention examinations.
In Study 1, only the prevalence of children with high covert aggression was significantly increased with an increase in dioxin exposure. In Study 2, in the full ingestion (>80% of goal ingestion volume) group, the prevalence of children with high covert aggression associated with dioxin exposure was significantly lower in the post-ingestion examination compared with in the pre-ingestion examination. However, in other ingestion (<20% and 20-79%) groups and a reference (no intervention) group, no difference in the prevalence of children with high covert aggression was found between the examinations before and after the same experimental period.
The findings suggest that DBB ingestion may ameliorate children's aggressive behavior, which is associated with perinatal dioxin exposure.
多氯联苯已被认为会在肠道和大脑中引发炎症，并导致神经发育障碍，如自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 和注意缺陷多动障碍 (ADHD)，部分原因是大脑中对炎症应激敏感的钙蛋白阳性神经元缺失。此前，我们报道了越南儿童在产前接触多氯联苯后出现 ADHD 症状，表现为攻击性增强，而干木鱼高汤 (DBB) 已被报道可在动物和人类研究中抑制炎症和抑制攻击行为。在本研究中，我们调查了多氯联苯暴露与儿童高度攻击性行为的患病率之间的关联（研究 1），以及 DBB 对儿童高度攻击性行为的患病率的影响（研究 2）。
在研究 1 中，我们调查了多氯联苯暴露对高攻击性评分儿童患病率的影响，这些儿童的评分是使用儿童敌意和攻击性量表：反应/主动（C-SHARP）在多氯联苯污染地区进行评估的。在调整了混杂因素后，使用逻辑回归模型对数据进行分析。在研究 2 中，我们通过给予 DBB 进行营养干预 60 天来改善 C-SHARP 攻击性量表得分较高的儿童的攻击性。通过比较干预前后 C-SHARP 得分较高的儿童的患病率来评估 DBB 的效果。
在研究 1 中，只有多氯联苯暴露增加时，高隐蔽性攻击儿童的患病率显著增加。在研究 2 中，在完全摄入 (>80%的目标摄入体积) 组中，与多氯联苯暴露相关的高隐蔽性攻击儿童的患病率在摄入后检查中明显低于摄入前检查。然而，在其他摄入 (<20%和 20-79%) 组和参考（无干预）组中，在相同实验期间前后的检查中，高隐蔽性攻击儿童的患病率没有差异。
这些发现表明，DBB 摄入可能会改善与围产期多氯联苯暴露相关的儿童攻击行为。
