TY - JOUR
T1 - Associations of Maternal Urinary Concentrations of Phenols, Individually and as a Mixture, with Serum Biomarkers of Thyroid Function and Autoimmunity
T2 - Results from the EARTH Study
AU - McGee, Glen
AU - Génard-Walton, Maximilien
AU - Williams, Paige L.
AU - Korevaar, T. I.M.
AU - Chavarro, Jorge E.
AU - Meeker, John D.
AU - Braun, Joseph M.
AU - Broeren, Maarten A.
AU - Ford, Jennifer B.
AU - Calafat, Antonia M.
AU - Souter, Irene
AU - Hauser, Russ
AU - Mínguez-Alarcón, Lidia
N1 - Funding Information:
The project was financed by Grants (R01ES022955, R01ES033651, R01ES009718, P30ES000002, and R01ES024381) from the National Institutes of Health. We also acknowledge the support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), (RGPIN-2022-03068 and DGECR-2022-004433).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/6/9
Y1 - 2023/6/9
N2 - The associations between urinary phenol concentrations and markers of thyroid function and autoimmunity among potentially susceptible subgroups, such as subfertile women, have been understudied, especially when considering chemical mixtures. We evaluated cross-sectional associations of urinary phenol concentrations, individually and as a mixture, with serum markers of thyroid function and autoimmunity. We included 339 women attending a fertility center who provided one spot urine and one blood sample at enrollment (2009–2015). We quantified four phenols in urine using isotope dilution high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, and biomarkers of thyroid function (thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free and total thyroxine (fT4, TT4), and triiodothyronine (fT3, TT3)), and autoimmunity (thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and thyroglobulin (Tg) antibodies (Ab)) in serum using electrochemoluminescence assays. We fit linear and additive models to investigate the association between urinary phenols—both individually and as a mixture—and serum thyroid function and autoimmunity, adjusted for confounders. As a sensitivity analysis, we also applied Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR) to investigate non-linear and non-additive interactions. Urinary bisphenol A was associated with thyroid function, in particular, fT3 (mean difference for a 1 log unit increase in concentration: −0.088; 95% CI [−0.151, −0.025]) and TT3 (−0.066; 95% CI [−0.112, −0.020]). Urinary methylparaben and triclosan were also associated with several thyroid hormones. The overall mixture was negatively associated with serum fT3 concentrations (mean difference comparing all four mixture components at their 75th vs. 25th percentiles: −0.19, 95% CI [−0.35, −0.03]). We found no evidence of non-linearity or interactions. These results add to the current literature on phenol exposures and thyroid function in women, suggesting that some phenols may alter the thyroid system.
AB - The associations between urinary phenol concentrations and markers of thyroid function and autoimmunity among potentially susceptible subgroups, such as subfertile women, have been understudied, especially when considering chemical mixtures. We evaluated cross-sectional associations of urinary phenol concentrations, individually and as a mixture, with serum markers of thyroid function and autoimmunity. We included 339 women attending a fertility center who provided one spot urine and one blood sample at enrollment (2009–2015). We quantified four phenols in urine using isotope dilution high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, and biomarkers of thyroid function (thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free and total thyroxine (fT4, TT4), and triiodothyronine (fT3, TT3)), and autoimmunity (thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and thyroglobulin (Tg) antibodies (Ab)) in serum using electrochemoluminescence assays. We fit linear and additive models to investigate the association between urinary phenols—both individually and as a mixture—and serum thyroid function and autoimmunity, adjusted for confounders. As a sensitivity analysis, we also applied Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR) to investigate non-linear and non-additive interactions. Urinary bisphenol A was associated with thyroid function, in particular, fT3 (mean difference for a 1 log unit increase in concentration: −0.088; 95% CI [−0.151, −0.025]) and TT3 (−0.066; 95% CI [−0.112, −0.020]). Urinary methylparaben and triclosan were also associated with several thyroid hormones. The overall mixture was negatively associated with serum fT3 concentrations (mean difference comparing all four mixture components at their 75th vs. 25th percentiles: −0.19, 95% CI [−0.35, −0.03]). We found no evidence of non-linearity or interactions. These results add to the current literature on phenol exposures and thyroid function in women, suggesting that some phenols may alter the thyroid system.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85163677379&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/toxics11060521
DO - 10.3390/toxics11060521
M3 - Article
C2 - 37368621
AN - SCOPUS:85163677379
SN - 2305-6304
VL - 11
JO - Toxics
JF - Toxics
IS - 6
M1 - 521
ER -