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Cardiovascular Disease

• Human serum lipidomics analysis revealed glyphosate may lead to lipid metabolism disorders and health risks
  Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) are one of the most widely used pesticides worldwide. Industrial workers in glyphosate-based herbicides manufacture are the populations who experience long-term exposure to high glyphosate levels. The impacts of glyphosate on human health are the important public health problem of great concern. Up to date, the potential adverse effects of glyphosate on humans or other mammals have been reported in multiple studies. However, limited research is available on lipid alternations related to human exposure to glyphosate. In fact, the perturbations in some lipid metabolisms have been found in industrial workers in previous work. This study aims to explore the serum lipidomic characterization and to understand the underlying mechanisms of health risks associated with glyphosate exposure. A nontargeted lipidomics study was conducted to investigate the 391 serum samples from the general population and chemical factory workers. It was demonstrated that glyphosate caused significant perturbations of 115 differentially expressed lipids. The main manifestations were the elevation of circulating diacylglycerols (DG), cholesteryl esters (CE), ceramides (Cer), sphingomyelins (SM), lysophosphatidylethanolamines (LPE) and phosphatidylcholines (PC), and the decrease of ysophosphatidylcholines (LPC), triacylglycerols (TG), fatty acids (FA) and phosphatidylethanolamines (PE). A total of 88 lipids were further screened as potential lipid biomarkers associated closely with glyphosate using partial correlation analysis, and five of which (including PC 16:0/18:2; O, PC 18:0/18:2; O, PC 18:0/20:4; O, PC O-40:9 and CE 18:3) showed excellent superior performance (AUC = 1) to evaluate and monitor health risks due to glyphosate exposure. The present work discovered glyphosate-induced potential health risks, including chronic hepatic and renal dysfunction, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative diseases from a lipidomic perspective, and could inform the identification of early indicators and interpretation of biological mechanisms to detect health risks of the glyphosate-exposed populations as early as possible.
  [Zhang, F., Zhang, Q., Liu, X., Gao, M., Li, X., Wang, Y., Chang, Y., Zhang, X., Huo, Z., Zhang, L. and Shan, J., 2023. Environment International, 171, p.107682.]
• Predicting mortality in paraquat poisoning through clinical findings, with a focus on pulmonary and cardiovascular system disorders.
  Paraquat, one of the most widely used herbicides, poses a significant risk of mortality through self-poisoning and subsequent multiple organ failure. The primary objective aimed to identify the factors associated with death in patients poisoned by paraquat. A cross-sectional retrospective review was conducted at a tertiary referral hospital over five years. Eligible patients presented with acute paraquat toxicity between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2020. Medical records of 148 patients were reviewed. The in-hospital fatality rate was found to be 21.8%. Multivariate analysis revealed that the amount of paraquat ingested and clinical presentations, particularly pulmonary and cardiovascular system disorders, were significantly associated with mortality. Our study highlights that the amount of paraquat ingested, along with the presence of pulmonary and cardiovascular system disorders, can serve as prognostic indicators for mortality rates in cases of paraquat poisoning. These findings have important implications for physicians in predicting the prognosis and mortality of paraquat poisoning patients.
  [Tajai, P. and Kornjirakasemsan, A., 2023. Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, 16(1), p.123.]
• The Associations between Organophosphate Pesticides (OPs) and Respiratory Disease, Diabetes Mellitus, and Cardiovascular Disease: A Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.
  Although some epidemiological studies have identified the associations between exposure to organophosphate pesticides (Ops) and respiratory diseases, diabetes mellitus (DM), and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), controversial results still exist. In this review and meta-analysis, we aimed to investigate the overall pooled effect estimates and the possible mechanisms of the relationship between OP exposure and adverse health outcomes. In this study, Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, OVID, and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched until September 2022. Nineteen observational studies that focused on the general population or occupational populations examined the associations between OP exposure and respiratory diseases, DM, and CVD were included. Based on the overall pooled results, a significantly positive association was observed between OP exposure and respiratory diseases (OR: 1.12, 95% CI: 1.06–1.19). A significant link was also observed between various individual species of OP exposure and respiratory diseases, with an OR value of 1.11 (95% CI: 1.05–1.18). In particular, there was a significant association of OPs with wheezing and asthma, with OR values of 1.19 (95% CI: 1.08–1.31) and 1.13 (95% CI: 1.05–1.22), respectively. In addition, a significant association was also observed between OP exposure and DM (OR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.07–1.29). However, no significant association was observed between OP exposure and CVD (OR: 1.00, 95% CI: 0.94–1.05). Exposure to OPs was associated with a significantly increased risk of respiratory diseases and DM, but there was no evidence of a significant association between OP exposure and CVD. Considering the moderate strength of the results, further evidence is needed to confirm these associations.
  [Zhao, L., Liu, Q., Jia, Y., Lin, H., Yu, Y., Chen, X., Liu, Z., Li, W., Fang, T., Jiang, W. and Zhang, J., 2023. Toxics, 11(9), p.741.]
• Association Between Exposure to Pyrethroid Insecticides and Risk of All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in the General US Adult Population
  Widespread exposure to pyrethroid insecticides has been reported among the general population in the United States and worldwide. However, little is known about the association of pyrethroid. To examine the association of pyrethroid exposure with all-cause and cause-specific mortality among adults in the United States. The national representative cohort included 2116 adults aged 20 years and older who participated in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted from 1999 to 2002 and provided urine samples for pyrethroid metabolite measurements. Participants were linked to mortality data from the survey date through December 31, 2015. Data were analyzed from May to August 2019. Urinary levels of 3-phenoxybenzoic acid, a general pyrethroid metabolite and commonly used biomarker for pyrethroid exposure, were determined by using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray chemical ionization and tandem mass spectrometry. Mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. This cohort study of 2116 adults comprised 1145 women (weighted proportion, 51.6%) and 971 men (weighted, 48.4%), with a weighted mean (SE) age of 42.6 (0.5) years; 958 participants (weighted, 68.4%) were of non-Hispanic white ancestry, 646 (weighted, 14.7%) of Hispanic ancestry, 419 (weighted, 11.3%) of non-Hispanic black ancestry, and 93 (weighted, 5.6%) of other ancestry. During a median of 14.4 years (range, 0.1-16.8 years) of observation, 246 deaths occurred, including 41 associated with cardiovascular disease and 52 associated with cancer. Participants with higher urinary 3-phenoxybenzoic acid levels were at a higher risk of death during the follow-up period, with death occurring in 8.5% (unweighted, 75 of 709), 10.2% (unweighted, 81 of 701), and 11.9% (unweighted, 90 of 706) of participants across increasing tertiles of urinary 3-phenoxybenzoic acid levels. After adjustment for age, sex, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, dietary and lifestyle factors, body mass index, and urinary creatinine levels, the hazard ratios for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease mortality, and cancer mortality among participants with the highest tertile compared with those with the lowest tertile of urinary 3-phenoxybenzoic acid levels were 1.56 (95% CI, 1.08-2.26), 3.00 (95% CI, 1.02-8.80), and 0.91 (95% CI, 0.31-2.72), respectively. In this nationally representative sample of US adults, environmental exposure to pyrethroid insecticides was associated with an increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality. Further studies are needed to replicate the findings and determine the underlying mechanisms.
  [Bao, W., Liu, B., Simonsen, D.W. and Lehmler, H.J., 2019. JAMA Internal Medicine. 180(3):367-374.]
• Inflammatory and cardiometabolic risk on obesity: role of environmental xenoestrogens.
  The objective of the study was to investigate the levels of xenoestrogens (XEs) in plasma and adipose tissue (AT) depots in a sample of pre- and postmenopausal obese women undergoing bariatric surgery and their cardiometabolic impact in an obese state. Authors evaluated XE levels in plasma and visceral and subcutaneous AT samples of Portuguese obese (body mass index ≥ 35 kg/m(2)) women undergoing bariatric surgery. Association with metabolic parameters and 10-year cardiovascular disease risk was assessed. Data show that XEs are pervasive in this obese population. Distribution of individual and concentration of total XEs differed between plasma, visceral AT, and subcutaneous AT, and the pattern of accumulation was different between pre- and postmenopausal women. Significant associations between XE levels and metabolic and inflammatory parameters were found. In premenopausal women, XEs in plasma seem to be a predictor of 10-year cardiovascular disease risk.
  [Teixeira D, Pestana D, Santos C, Correia-Sá L, et al. 2015. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 100(5):1792-801]