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. 2024:29:58.
doi: 10.1265/ehpm.24-00190.

A decrease in serum dihydrotestosterone levels in 9-year-old Vietnamese children from a dioxin exposure area

Oanh Thi Phuong Nguyen  1 , Seijiro Honma  2 , Phuc Duc Hoang  3 , Khanh Van Nguyen  4 , Anh Thai Le  5 , Shoji F Nakayama  6 , Manh Dung Ho  7 , Viet Hoang Nguyen  8 , Tung Van Dao  9 , Nhu Duc Dang  4 , Tan Thi Minh Ngo  8 , Thuc Van Pham  8 , Toan Van Ngo  1 , Chi Van Vo  10 , Hideaki Nakagawa  11 , Teruhiko Kido  2
Affiliations

A decrease in serum dihydrotestosterone levels in 9-year-old Vietnamese children from a dioxin exposure area

Oanh Thi Phuong Nguyen et al. Environ Health Prev Med. 2024.

Abstract

Background: Dioxin is an environmental pollutant as well as an endocrine disruptor in humans. Our longitudinal study wants to clarify the relationship between dioxin exposure and endocrine disorders in children living in the Vietnamese dioxin hotspot.

Method: Seventeen congeners of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/polychlorinated dibenzo-furans (PCDDs/PCDFs) in maternal breast milk and seven serum steroid hormones in children of 43 and 46 mothers and their 9-year-old children from the non-exposure and the hotspot areas were measured, respectively. The steroid metabolic enzyme ratios were calculated based on the hormone level ratio.

Results: Most dioxin/furan congeners and toxic equivalents (TEQs) levels were significantly higher in the hotspot than in the non-exposure area, except for 2,4,7,8-TeCDF. The height and weight of girls from the hotspot area were substantially lower and inversely correlated with dioxin congener levels/total TEQs level dioxin. The dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels in the hotspot were markedly lower than those in non-exposed in both genders. The cortisol concentrations were significantly higher in the hotspot than those from the non-exposure area only in the girls. The DHT/testosterone ratios that exhibited the 5α- or 5β-reductase activity declined by 50% in the hotspot area for both genders. The DHT levels showed strong inverse correlations with almost the PCDDs/PCDFs congeners and total TEQs dioxin in breast milk.

Conclusions: This finding suggests that dioxin exposure in maternal breast milk might impact children's endocrine system until 9 years old, especially on the DHT biosynthesis.

Keywords: 9-year-old children; Androgen disruption; Dihydrotestosterone; Dioxin exposure; Testosterone; Vietnamese cohort.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The outline of this research Note: B: Boys, G: Girls, BM: Body measurement, HL: Hormone levels, CDL: Children dioxin level in serum, DL: Dioxin levels in maternal milk
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Correlation of TEQs total of PCDDs+PCDFs in maternal breastmilk and DHT level in children’s serum
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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