Prenatal Exposure to Endocrine Disruptors and Markers of Metabolic Syndrome in Preschool Age: A Birth Cohort Study

摘要

Background. The etiology of obesity and the metabolic syndrome (MS) is multifactorial. However, the hypothesis of environmental obesogens suggests that prenatal exposure to chemicals such as phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA) may increase weight gain and risk of developing MS due to possible alterations in fetal metabolic programming. Objective. To evaluate the association between prenatal exposure to phthalates and BPA and the increase in MS markers in preschool children from Mexico. Material and methods. A total of 205 mother-child pairs were included, all participants of a POSGRAD birth cohort study. Information was obtained on sociodemographic characteristics, obstetric and health history and maternal stress during pregnancy and for the evaluation of prenatal exposure to endocrine disruptors, measurements of 9 phthalate metabolites and concentrations of bisphenol A in samples of urine from the mother was realized.. During each postnatal follow-up visit, anthropometric measurements were taken, health information was collected, and at 4 years of age cardiometabolic risk markers were measured in the children. Multiple linear regression models were run adjusting for important confounders. Results 12.7% of the children were overweight (BMI z-score) and 26.5% and 28.4% had high glucose levels and triglycerides respectively. 11.3% had low levels of HDL cholesterol. The concentrations of 7 of the 9 metabolites of phthalates and the concentrations of BPA studied were higher. We found statistically significant associations between some metabolites of phthalates with the levels of total cholesterol, non-HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and the triglycerides / LDL ratio (p <0.05). Conclusions The results of this study strengthen the evidence that exposure to endocrine disruptors during pregnancy increases the risk of metabolic syndrome in preschool age, a situation that may increase the risk of chronic diseases at younger ages of life.