TY - JOUR
TI - In Utero Exposure to Dioxins and Dioxin-like Compounds and Anogenital
Distance in Newborns and Infants
AU - Vafeiadi, Marina
AU - Agramunt, Silvia
AU - Papadopoulou, Eleni and
AU - Besselink, Harrie
AU - Mathianaki, Kleopatra
AU - Karakosta, Polyxeni and
AU - Spanaki, Ariana
AU - Koutis, Antonis
AU - Chatzi, Leda
AU - Vrijheid,
AU - Martine
AU - Kogevinas, Manolis
JO - Environmental Health Perspectives
PY - 2013
VL - 121
TODO - 1
SP - 125-130
PB - US DEPT HEALTH HUMAN SCIENCES PUBLIC HEALTH SCIENCE
SN - 0091-6765, 1552-9924
TODO - 10.1289/ehp.1205221
TODO - anogenital distance; dioxin-like compounds; dioxins; DR CALUX (R);
persistent organic pollutants
TODO - BACKGROUND: Anogenital distance in animals is used as a measure of fetal
androgen action. Prenatal exposure to dioxins and dioxin-like compounds
in rodents causes reproductive changes in male offspring and decreases
anogenital distance.
OBJECTIVE: We assessed whether in utero exposure to dioxins and
dioxin-like compounds adversely influences anogenital distance in
newborns and young children (median age, 16 months; range, 1-31 months).
METHODS: We measured anogenital distance among participants of the
“Rhea” mother-child cohort study in Crete and the Hospital del Mar
(HMAR) cohort in Barcelona. Anogenital distance (AGD; anus to upper
penis), anoscrotal distance (ASD; anus to scrotum), and penis width (PW)
were measured in 119 newborn and 239 young boys; anoclitoral (ACD; anus
to clitoris) and anofourchetal distance (AFD; anus to fourchette) were
measured in 118 newborn and 223 young girls. We estimated plasma
dioxin-like activity in maternal blood samples collected at delivery
with the Dioxin-Responsive Chemically Activated LUciferase eXpression
(DR CALUX (R)) bioassay.
RESULTS: Anogenital distances were sexually dimorphic, being longer in
males than females. Plasma dioxin-like activity was negatively
associated with AGD in male newborns. The estimated change in AGD per 10
pg CALUX (R)-toxic equivalent/g lipid increase was -0.44 mm (95% CI:
-0.80, -0.08) after adjusting for confounders. Negative but smaller and
nonsignificant associations were observed for AGD in young boys. No
associations were found in girls.
CONCLUSIONS: Male infants may be susceptible to endocrine-disrupting
effects of dioxins. Our findings are consistent with the experimental
animal evidence used by the Food and Agriculture Organization/World
Health Organization to set recommendations for human dioxin intake.
ER -