Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jun 22;19(13):7605.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19137605.

The Association between Urinary Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Metabolites and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Xue Wang  1 , Ang Li  2   3 , Qun Xu  2   3
Affiliations

The Association between Urinary Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Metabolites and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Xue Wang et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are considered to be endocrine disruptors. In this study, the evidence on the association between PAHs and diabetes was systematically reviewed. PubMed, EMBASE, and ISI Web of Science were systematically searched for studies reporting the association between PAHs and diabetes. Of the 698 articles identified through the search, nine cross-sectional studies were included. Seven were conducted in the general population and two in coke oven workers. Fixed-effects and random-effects models were used to calculate the total effect. Subgroup analysis was further carried out according to the types of PAH metabolites. The results showed that the odds of diabetes were significantly higher for the highest category of urinary naphthalene (NAP), fluorine (FLU), phenanthrene (PHEN), and total mono-hydroxylated (OH-PAH) metabolites compared to the lowest category. The pooled odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were 1.52 (95%CI: 1.19, 1.94), 1.53 (95%CI: 1.36, 1.71), 1.43 (95%CI: 1.28, 1.60), and 1.49 (95%CI: 1.07, 2.08), respectively. In coke oven workers, 4-hydroxyphenanthrene (4-OHPh) was significantly correlated with an increased risk of diabetes. Exposure measurements, outcome definitions, and adjustment for confounders were heterogeneous between studies. The results of the current study demonstrate a potentially adverse effect of PAHs on diabetes. Further mechanistic studies and longitudinal studies are needed to confirm whether PAH metabolite levels are causative, and hence associative, with increased diabetes incidences.

Keywords: diabetes; environmental pollutants; mono-hydroxylated PAHs (OH-PAHs); polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Results of systematic literature search.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The association between urinary NAP metabolites and risk of T2DM [20,21,22,23,24,25,28].
Figure 3
Figure 3
The association between urinary FLU metabolites and risk of T2DM [20,21,22,23,24,25,28].
Figure 4
Figure 4
The association between urinary PHEN metabolites and risk of T2DM [20,21,22,23,24,25,28].
Figure 5
Figure 5
The association between urinary 1-OHP, ΣOH-PAH metabolites, and risk of T2DM [20,21,22,23,24,25,28].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Liu C., Chen R., Sera F., Vicedo-Cabrera A.M., Guo Y., Tong S., Coelho M., Saldiva P.H.N., Lavigne E., Matus P., et al. Ambient Particulate Air Pollution and Daily Mortality in 652 Cities. N. Engl. J. Med. 2019;381:705–715. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1817364. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cohen A.J., Brauer M., Burnett R., Anderson H.R., Frostad J., Estep K., Balakrishnan K., Brunekreef B., Dandona L., Dandona R., et al. Estimates and 25-year trends of the global burden of disease attributable to ambient air pollution: An analysis of data from the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2015. Lancet. 2017;389:1907–1918. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30505-6. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kim K.-H., Jahan S.A., Kabir E., Brown R.J.C. A review of airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their human health effects. Environ. Int. 2013;60:71–80. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2013.07.019. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zhang Y., Dong S., Wang H., Tao S., Kiyama R. Biological impact of environmental polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (ePAHs) as endocrine disruptors. Environ. Pollut. 2016;213:809–824. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2016.03.050. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gao P., da Silva E., Hou L., Denslow N.D., Xiang P., Ma L.Q. Human exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: Metabolomics perspective. Environ. Int. 2018;119:466–477. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2018.07.017. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms