Academic Center for Thyroid Diseases, Erasmus MC, Dr. Molewaterplein 15, 3051 GE Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus MC, Dr. Molewaterplein 15, 3051 GE Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Department of Public Health, Karlstad University, Sweden.
Environ Int. 2023 Aug;178:108091. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108091. Epub 2023 Jul 13.
Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is produced by the placenta and plays an essential role in the maintenance of pregnancy. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have the potential to interfere with functions related to the production and secretion of hCG; however associations between exposure to EDCs and hCG concentrations in humans remain to be elucidated.
To investigate the association of urinary, serum and plasma concentrations of EDCs during pregnancy with serum hCG concentrations.
We utilized data form the Swedish Environmental Longitudinal, Mother and child, Asthma and allergy (SELMA) study. We investigated the association of 26 EDCs measured in early pregnancy urine or blood with serum hCG concentrations using multi-variable adjusted linear regression models per EDC and Weighted Quantile Sum (WQS) regression with repeated holdout validation for the EDCs mixture.
In 2,039 included women, higher exposure to bisphenol A was associated with lower hCG (beta [95% CI]: -0.06 [-0.11 to -0.002]) while higher triclosan exposure was associated with a higher hCG (0.02 [0.003 to 0.04]). Higher exposure to several phthalates, including mono-ethyl and mono-butyl phthalates (MEP and MBP) as well as metabolites of di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) was associated with a lower hCG (beta [95% CI] for sum of DEHP metabolites: -0.13 [-0.19 to -0.07]). Likewise, higher exposure to several polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) was associated with a lower hCG. In the WQS regression, each quartile increase in the EDCs mixture was associated with -0.27 lower hCG (95% CI: -0.34 to -0.19).
Higher exposure to several EDCs during pregnancy was associated with a lower hCG; and despite the small effect sizes, still indicating that the exposure may negatively affect production or secretion of hCG by the placenta. Our results provide the impetus for future experimental studies to investigate the placenta as a target organ for adverse effects of EDCs.
人绒毛膜促性腺激素（hCG）由胎盘产生，在维持妊娠中起着至关重要的作用。内分泌干扰化学物质（EDCs）有可能干扰与 hCG 的产生和分泌相关的功能；然而，在人类中，接触 EDCs 与 hCG 浓度之间的关联仍有待阐明。
研究妊娠期间尿液、血清和血浆中 EDC 浓度与血清 hCG 浓度之间的关系。
我们利用瑞典环境纵向、母婴、哮喘和过敏（SELMA）研究的数据。我们使用多变量调整线性回归模型，针对每种 EDC 进行分析，并使用加权分位数总和（WQS）回归进行分析，对 EDC 混合物进行重复验证。
在纳入的 2039 名女性中，较高的双酚 A 暴露与 hCG 降低相关（β[95%CI]：-0.06[-0.11 至-0.002]），而较高的三氯生暴露与 hCG 升高相关（0.02[0.003 至 0.04]）。较高的几种邻苯二甲酸酯暴露，包括单乙基和单丁基邻苯二甲酸酯（MEP 和 MBP）以及邻苯二甲酸二（2-乙基己基）酯（DEHP）的代谢物，与 hCG 降低相关（DEHP 代谢物总和的β[95%CI]：-0.13[-0.19 至-0.07]）。同样，较高的几种多氯联苯（PCBs）暴露与 hCG 降低相关。在 WQS 回归中，EDCs 混合物每增加一个四分位数，hCG 就会降低 0.27（95%CI：-0.34 至-0.19）。
妊娠期间接触几种 EDCs 与 hCG 降低有关；尽管效应大小较小，但仍表明接触可能会对胎盘产生或分泌 hCG 产生负面影响。我们的结果为未来的实验研究提供了动力，以研究胎盘作为 EDCs 不良作用的靶器官。
