DDT and its metabolites are linked to increased risk of type 2 diabetes among Saudi adults: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Organochlorine (OC) pesticides have recently been associated with type 2 diabetes in several non-Asian general populations. As there is currently an epidemic of type 2 diabetes mellitus in Asia. The prevalence and incidence of diabetes is increasing rapidly worldwide including many Arab Gulf countries. According to a community-based national epidemiological health survey, the overall prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Saudi adults (age group of 30-50 years) is 23.7%. A recent study by Al-Daghri et al. (BMC Med 9:76, 2011) reported that the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is 31.6%. We investigated the associations between OC pesticides and type 2 diabetes in Saudi Arabia using a simple, sensitive, rapid, and selective gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method that has been recently developed. A total of 280 Saudi adults (136 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients and 144 non-DM controls) were randomly selected from the Riyadh Cohort Study for inclusion. The diagnosis of diabetes was based on established diagnosis and medications taken. Blood dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its derivatives were quantified using GC-MS. Residues of DDT and its derivatives were analyzed in serum by means of gas chromatography with a mass spectrometry detector. Associations between DDT exposure and T2DM were analyzed by logistic regression. DDT and its derivatives and serum concentrations of DDT and its derivative DDE showed the strongest and most significant association to type 2 diabetes in both cross-sectional and prospective studies. Associations of DDT and its derivatives varied across different diabetes-related components of the metabolic syndrome. It positively and significantly associated with four of the five of these components especially elevated triacylglycerol, high fasting glucose, high blood pressure, and HOMA-IR but negatively and significantly with HDL. Possible biological mechanisms are discussed. This study confirms previous reports relating organochlorine pesticide (OCP) exposure to diabetes and suggests possible hormonal pathways deserving further exploration. The study will be one of the first to shed light on the associations of serum levels of total DDTs and DDT derivatives among the Saudi Arab ethnicity, and diabetes type 2 chronic noncommunicable diseases are highly prevalent.

Investigation of mRNA expression changes associated with field exposure to DDTs in chickens from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

“…Organochlorine pesticides like DDT are known to be such EDCs, and interfere with hormone signalling and metabolic pathways [ 5 , 38 , 39 ]. Levels of DDTs have been linked to type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndromes in people [ 40 , 41 ]. Involvement of the insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 1 (IGFBP1) has been demonstrated in insulin signaling in chickens [ 42 ].…”

Strong Associations Between the Pesticide Hexachlorocyclohexane and Type 2 Diabetes in Saudi Adults

“…Serum α-HCH, β-HCH, γ-HCH and δ-HCH levels were determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) as described previously [ 20 ], with minor modifications. Each sample (0.5 mL of serum) was put into a 10 mL centrifuge tube.…”

Markers of acute toxicity of DDT exposure in pancreatic beta-cells determined by a proteomic approach

“…Nowadays, DDT in human serum/plasma/blood commonly range between 1–500 nM [ 12 , 13 ] with maxima occasionally overcoming 1 μM [ 14 ]. Epidemiologic studies [ 15 – 18 ] showed a correlation between DDT in the human organism and the incidence of diabetes mellitus. Nevertheless, they did not specify if DDT affected insulin production by pancreatic beta-cells or insulin signaling in target tissues [ 7 , 19 , 20 ].…”