Evaluation of Sex hormones in male and female Egyptian population naturally exposed to Dibutyl phthalate: a cross-sectional study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 National Nutrition Institute, Cairo, EGYPT

2 Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, EGYPT

Abstract

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDC) an exogenous chemical or mixture of chemicals, which can interfere with hormonal action. The phthalates and their metabolism like Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) are considered EDCs disturb the action of reproductive hormones. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 84 selected adult volunteers from both genders to assess the association between serum DBP concentration and sex hormone levels in adult Egyptians. Serum DBP was measured by Gas chromatography-mass spectrometer. Serum sex hormones, sex hormone- binding globulin (SHBG), and Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In males, there was a significant decrease in total testosterone (T), Free testosterone (FT), Bioavailable testosterone (BT), Free Androgen Index (FAI) between low and high exposure to DBP, while Estradiol (E2) was significantly increased. In the female, there were significant increases in total E2, Luteinizing Hormone (LH), Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), and significant reduction in progesterone in high exposure group compared to low exposure to DBP. This study showed that there was a significant strong correlation between DBP with T, T/ E2 in males while female subjects showed a significant strong positive correlation with LH and FSH. There is increasing evidence that DBP has an impact on human sex hormones which can cause many physiological disturbances and many diseases in Egyptian adults. It is recommended that reduce human exposure to DBP in the food supply.

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