Abstract
BackgroundDioxins and dioxin-like compounds have half-lives typically between 7.2 years and 15 years. Our previous study of patients poisoned by extremely high concentrations of 2,3,4,7,8-pentachlorodibenzofuran (PeCDF) in the ‘Yusho incident’ in 1968 found that in some the half-life of blood 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF tended towards infinity. This suggests that there are two groups of Yusho patients, those with 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF half-lives around 10 years, and those with half-lives near infinity. We sought to establish the proportions of each in a cohort of 395 Yusho patients, and whether the proportions were changing over time.MethodsWe undertook longitudinal measurement of the blood concentration of 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF in our cohort between 2002 and 2010. We estimated the change in concentration for each patient using linear regression for measured 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF concentration, then compared the distribution of changes in concentrations with our previous study.ResultsIn patients in whom the blood concentration of 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF exceeded 50 pg/g lipid, the proportion 8.0 % of patients exhibiting half-lives less than 13.3 years fell compared with our previous study (28.2 %), while the proportion with near infinity half-lives increased.ConclusionThe prolongation of the half-lives was likely a consequence of age-related factors.
Highlights
The ‘Yusho incident’ was an episode of food poisoning that occurred in western Japan in 1968
Initial reports indicated that Yusho was caused by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
Following a number of studies, it is considered that 2,3,4,7,8-pentachlorodibenzofuran (PeCDF) was the main causative compound of Yusho [4, 19]
Summary
The ‘Yusho incident’ was an episode of food poisoning that occurred in western Japan in 1968. Since the blood concentrations of 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF in the two groups are three or more times higher than the general public, it seems unlikely that the extended half-lives can be explained by ingestion from food [2, 11]. Our previous study of patients poisoned by extremely high concentrations of 2,3,4,7,8-pentachlorodibenzofuran (PeCDF) in the ‘Yusho incident’ in 1968 found that in some the half-life of blood 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF tended towards infinity. This suggests that there are two groups of Yusho patients, those with 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF half-lives around 10 years, and those with half-lives near infinity. We sought to establish the proportions of each in a cohort of 395 Yusho patients, and whether the proportions were changing over time
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