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Association Between Leukocyte Telomere Length and Serum Concentrations of PCBs and Organochlorine Pesticides

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Abstract

Exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) through food, water, and air occurred during the life, which may change telomere length (TL) in peripheral blood leukocytes. The present study was designed to investigate the association between TL and serum levels of PCBs and OCPs in Tehran male’s population. Whole blood samples were randomly taken from 300 adult males, aged between 25 and 40 years. TL was determined by real-time PCR to measure the number of the telomere (T) repeats to the number of a single-copy gene (S). We applied the multivariate linear regression model to compare the effect of each lipid adjusted serum levels of PCBs and OCPs congener on the TL, with adjustment for age, body mass index, education, smoking, and food patterns. Each doubling of the nondioxin-like PCBs, dioxin-like PCBs, and OCPs levels were associated with 1.9% [95% confidence interval (CI) − 0.70 to 5.40%], 2.5% (95% CI 0.30–8.3%), and − 2.4% (95% CI − 0.70 to − 6.2%) variation in the TL, respectively. The percent difference in the TL with exposure to nondioxin-like PCBs, dioxin-like PCBs, and OCPs for participants with older than age 37 years were 6.45% (95% CI  2.81–16.50%), 4.52% (95% CI  1.60–10.54%), and − 7.44% (95% CI − 1.55 to − 15.51%), respectively. Exposures to nondioxin-like PCBs (except for PCB 28 and 52) with high chlorine in structure and dioxin-like PCBs were related to longer TLs. Conversely, serum levels of OCPs can be associated with oxidative stress and systemic inflammation that lead to telomere shortening.

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Acknowledgements

The protocol of this study has been approved by the Tehran University of Medical Sciences ethics committee with code IR.TUMS.REC.1395.2586. The authors thank the Key Laboratory of Arak University of Medical Sciences for allowing us to use their facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arāk, Iran

    Behrooz Karimi

  2. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Enghelab St., Tehran, Iran

    Ramin Nabizadeh & Masud Yunesian

  3. Department of Research Methodology and Data Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research (IER), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Kargar St., Enghelab Sq., Tehran, Iran

    Masud Yunesian

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  1. Behrooz Karimi
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Correspondence to Behrooz Karimi.

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Karimi, B., Nabizadeh, R. & Yunesian, M. Association Between Leukocyte Telomere Length and Serum Concentrations of PCBs and Organochlorine Pesticides. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 79, 122–130 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-020-00732-z

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