Health risk assessment of phthalates exposure through lipid peroxidation in children with asthma

Abstract

Background: Global prevalence of asthma in children has dramatically increased in the past decades. Recent studies revealed that Taiwanese children are still exposed to considerable amounts of phthalates after the 2011 incident of phthalates-tainted food products. Up-to-date findings indicated that phthalates may increase malondialdehyde (MDA), a lipid peroxidation marker, in asthma patients. The role of phthalates in the increased occurrence of childhood asthma through lipid peroxidation remains unclear. We want to assess the association between phthalates exposure and MDA in children with asthma. Methods: We recruited 125 children with clinically-diagnosed asthma and around 98 controls from Taipei Hospital since January 2019. Participants provided urine specimen and questionnaire. Eleven phthalate metabolites and MDA were analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and ELISA, respectively. Pearson correlation and related statistical method were used to analyze the relationship of urinary phthalate metabolites or MDA in asthma children. Results: BMI in asthma children was significantly higher than that in control (p=0.005) whereas no similar phenomena was observed for other demographic factors. Mother ever had cigarette smoking in pregnancy and current burn incense at home in the case group were marginally significantly higher than those in control. Meanwhile, the median levels of urinary MEHP (72.18 v.s 68.81 ng/mL), MiNP (28.75 v.s 23.51 ng/mL), and MDA (6.87 v.s. 5.86) in asthma children were higher than those in control, though failed to reach statistical significance. Age was positively correlated with urinary MDA (r=0.159, p=0.018) and MEP (r=0.13, p=0.058). Urinary MEP was highly correlated with the other phthalate metabolites which indicated a common exposure source. Conclusion. Certain phthalates may increase lipid peroxidation markers in asthma children. Keyword: Phthalate metabolites; lipid peroxidation; asthma.