Phthalate exposure may increase metabolic syndrome risk for women with PCOS
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Increased phthalate metabolite concentrations may contribute to obesity, glucose impairment and dislipidemia among women with polycystic ovary syndrome, according to study findings published in Clinica Chimica Acta.
“PCOS is more than a reproductive condition, and it has been linked to metabolic syndrome through visceral obesity, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance,” Andrijana Milankov, MD, from the University of Novi Sad and the Clinic for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at the University Clinical Center of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia, and colleagues wrote. “Additionally, phthalates are environmental factors which may promote obesity and insulin resistance and thus worsen the metabolic, reproductive, clinical and biochemical features of PCOS.”
Milankov and colleagues sought to determine whether exposure to environmental phthalates was associated with metabolic parameters in PCOS. Their cross-sectional study included 60 women of reproductive age with confirmed PCOS. Researchers collected anthropometric measurements from all women and blood samples after at least 12 hours of fasting. Researchers measured levels of 10 phthalate metabolites by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry in morning urine samples.
At least one phthalate metabolite was present in 51.7% of samples taken. Overall, total phthalate metabolites urine concentrations were positively associated with BMI, waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio, leptin serum levels, lipid accumulation product and visceral adiposity index. In addition, mono-methyl-phthalate levels were significantly correlated with waist-to-height ratio, lipid accumulation product and visceral adiposity index.
Total phthalate metabolites were also significantly associated with fasting plasma glucose and Insulin Resistance Index, and mono-methyl-phthalate concentrations were associated with FPG and insulin levels. Researchers observed a statistically significantly higher total cholesterol level among women with PCOS with phthalate metabolites compared with those without exposure.
According to the researchers, the sum of all phthalates correlated with LDL and triglyceride levels as well as total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol. Mono-methyl-phthalate concentrations were also positively linked to total cholesterol, LDL and triglyceride levels along with total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol.
Finally, mono-methyl-phthalate concentrations were positively associated with testosterone serum levels, and total phthalate metabolites concentrations were linked to testosterone serum levels, but with moderate significance.
“These results suggest that exposure to phthalates as endocrine-disrupting chemicals increase risk for development of metabolic syndrome in PCOS women,” the researchers wrote. “Therefore, more research is needed to clarify the role of phthalates in the development of metabolic disturbances in PCOS women and with them associated diseases such as diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases.”
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