Association between urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites and diabetes mellitus among the US population: a cross-sectional study.

Abstract

The primary aim of this study is to examine the association between urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and diabetes mellitus (DM) among the US population. We used data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey 2003-16, which is a nationally representative population-based survey of the US non-institutionalized population. Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between urinary PAHs and the prevalence of DM using odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The study sample including 13792 individuals ≥18y of age. The average ages of the three PAH tertiles were 42.56±19.67, 42.21±19.51 and 43.39±17.99y. An increased risk of DM was found with increased odds for the second (OR 1.56 [95% CI 1.36 to 1.79]) and third tertile (OR 1.79 [95% CI 1.55 to 2.06)] of urinary PAH as compared with the first tertile. Similarly, higher chances of DM were observed in the second (men: OR 1.42 [95% CI 1.18 to 1.71]; women: OR 1.76 [95% CI 1.44 to 2.14]) and third tertile (men: OR 1.69 [95% CI 1.38 to 2.08]; women: OR 1.79 [95% CI 1.46 to 2.19]) of urinary PAHs as compared with the first tertile in both men and women. A population-based cross-sectional study found a positive association between urinary PAHs and DM in the US population.