Mehta Priyanka, Parajuli Rajendra P, Chronister Briana N C, Yang Kun, Barr Dana B, Tu Xin M, Lopez-Paredes Dolores, Suarez-Lopez Jose R
Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego (UCSD), La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Toxics. 2025 Aug 18;13(8):685. doi: 10.3390/toxics13080685.
Experimental studies suggest that some insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides can result in liver cell death, but population-based evidence is lacking. We investigated associations between urinary pesticide metabolites and liver biomarkers among adolescents and adults in an Ecuadorian agricultural area. We examined participants in 2016 (N = 528, 11-17 years) and 2022 (N = 505, 17-24 years). Plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase, soluble cytokeratin-18, and erythrocytic acetylcholinesterase were measured. Urinary biomarkers included four organophosphates, six neonicotinoids, three pyrethroids, two herbicides, and two fungicides. Generalized estimating equation (GEE) models examined associations and introduced sex and age interaction terms and quadratic terms. Quantile g-computation evaluated the effects of pesticide mixtures. No significant associations were observed between pesticide biomarkers and liver biomarkers in longitudinal or cross-sectional analyses. A curvilinear association was found between 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (3-PBA; pyrethroid) and ALT (β = -0.35, 95% CI: [-0.67, -0.04]) in 2016, but not in 2022. Sex modified the associations of 3-PBA with AST, ALT, and CK18-M65 in adolescents (2016), with non-significant positive associations observed in males and non-significant negative associations observed in females. No pesticide mixture effects were observed. Urinary biomarkers of various insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and their mixtures were not associated with liver biomarkers among adolescents and young adults in agricultural settings. These largely null findings, consistent across time points, suggest background-level exposures in these settings possibly do not harm liver health in this population, though effects at higher exposures cannot be ruled out.
实验研究表明，一些杀虫剂、杀菌剂和除草剂可导致肝细胞死亡，但缺乏基于人群的证据。我们调查了厄瓜多尔一个农业地区青少年和成年人尿液中农药代谢物与肝脏生物标志物之间的关联。我们在2016年（N = 528，11 - 17岁）和2022年（N = 505，17 - 24岁）对参与者进行了检查。测量了血浆丙氨酸氨基转移酶（ALT）、天冬氨酸氨基转移酶、可溶性细胞角蛋白-18和红细胞乙酰胆碱酯酶。尿液生物标志物包括四种有机磷、六种新烟碱类、三种拟除虫菊酯、两种除草剂和两种杀菌剂。广义估计方程（GEE）模型检验了关联，并引入了性别和年龄交互项以及二次项。分位数g计算评估了农药混合物的影响。在纵向或横断面分析中，未观察到农药生物标志物与肝脏生物标志物之间存在显著关联。2016年发现3-苯氧基苯甲酸（3-PBA；拟除虫菊酯）与ALT之间存在曲线关联（β = -0.35，95%CI：[-0.67，-0.04]），但2022年未发现。性别改变了青少年（2016年）中3-PBA与AST、ALT和CK18-M65的关联，男性中观察到非显著的正相关，女性中观察到非显著的负相关。未观察到农药混合物的影响。在农业环境中的青少年和年轻人中，各种杀虫剂、除草剂、杀菌剂及其混合物的尿液生物标志物与肝脏生物标志物无关。这些基本为阴性的结果在不同时间点是一致的，表明这些环境中的背景水平暴露可能不会损害该人群的肝脏健康，尽管不能排除更高暴露水平的影响。
