查看文章

Phthalate exposure was reported to be associated with diabetes mellitus (DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Yet, reported associations and the potential sex differences are inconsistent. We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 2330 participants in the Fall of 2012. Urinary metabolites of 10 phthalates were measured. The status of having DM and CVD-related outcomes were self-reported. In the overall study population, the logistic regression analyses showed that the urinary levels of mono-2-ethyl-5-oxohexyphthalate (MEOHP), mono-2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexylphthalate(MEHHP) and mono-2-ethyl-5-carboxypentylphthalate (MECPP) were positively associated with DM. Higher urinary levels of monomethyl phthalate (MMP) and mono-2-carboxymethyl-hexyl phthalate (MCMHP) were associated with increased odds of hyperlipidemia, while mono-2-ethylhexylphthalate (MEHP) was significantly inverse-associated with hyperlipidemia. We did not observe significant associations for other CVD-related outcomes with phthalate metabolites. When stratifying by sex, MEHHP, MEOHP, MECPP, MCMHP and the micromolar sums of the oxidative metabolites of DEHP (ΣDEHP_ox) were all significantly related to DM in males, but not in females. No significant sex differences were found in CVD-related outcomes, except the sporadic associations between phthalates and hyperlipidemia. These findings highlight the importance of investigating the sex-specific relationship between phthalates exposure and DM.