Abstract
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) disproportionately affects Indigenous populations. It is possible that exposure to complex mixtures of environmental contaminants contribute to T2DM development. This study examined the association between complex environmental contaminant mixtures and T2DM among Canadian Indigenous communities from the Eeyou Istchee territory, Quebec, Canada. Using data from the cross-sectional Multi-Community Environment-and-Health Study (2005–2009) Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to reduce the dimensionality of the following contaminants: 9-polychlorinated biphenyl congeners; 7-organic pesticides; and 4-metal/metalloids. Following this data reduction technique, we estimated T2DM prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals using modified Poisson regression with robust error variance across derived principal components, adjusting for a priori covariates. For both First Nation adult males (n = 303) and females (n = 419), factor loadings showed dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and lead (Pb) highly loaded on the second principal component (PC) axis: DDT negatively loaded, and Pb positively loaded. T2DM was significantly associated with PC-2 across all adjusted models. Because PCA produces orthogonal axes, increasing PC-2 scores in the fully adjusted model for females and males showed (PR = 0.84; 95% CI 0.72, 0.98) and (PR = 0.78; 95% CI 0.62, 0.98), respectively. This cross-sectional study suggests that our observed association with T2DM is the result of DDT, and less likely the result of Pb exposure. Further, detectable levels of DDT among individuals may possibly contribute to disease etiology.
Highlights
Diabetes continues to be a growing concern[1]
Type 2 diabetes is complicated with dyslipidemia and other factors associated with metabolic conditions which increase the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among Indigenous populations[13]
Toxic metals may act as endocrine disrupters that contribute to adiposity[14], which is a risk factor that exacerbates metabolic and physiologic abnormalities associated with T2DM
Summary
Diabetes continues to be a growing concern[1]. In Canada, Indigenous peoples are disproportionately affected by diabetes mellitus (T2DM)[2]. Exposure to environmental contaminants and the risk of diabetes has received much research attention as persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs) have been shown to be associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus[3,4,5,6,7]. Type 2 diabetes is complicated with dyslipidemia and other factors associated with metabolic conditions which increase the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and T2DM among Indigenous populations[13]. Examining the associations between environmental contaminants and T2DM is a priority, especially among Indigenous communities, where higher body burdens of complex mixtures exist. We examined the association between complex environmental contaminant mixtures and prevalent type 2 diabetes status among Canadian Cree communities residing in the Eeyou Istchee territory, in northern Quebec, Canada
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