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Urinary bisphenol A concentrations are associated with abnormal liver function in the elderly: a repeated panel study
  1. Mee-Ri Lee1,
  2. Hyunseung Park1,
  3. Sanghyuk Bae1,
  4. Youn-Hee Lim2,
  5. Jin Hee Kim3,4,
  6. Soo-Hun Cho1,
  7. Yun-Chul Hong1,3,4
  1. 1Department of Preventive Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
  2. 2Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
  3. 3Institute of Environmental Medicine, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, Korea
  4. 4Environmental Health Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
  1. Correspondence to Dr Yun-Chul Hong, Department of Preventive Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 103 Daehakro, Jongrogu, Seoul 110-744, Republic of Korea; ychong1{at}snu.ac.kr

Abstract

Background Bisphenol A (4,40-isopropylidenediphenol, BPA) is known to adversely affect various organs. The liver is reported to be affected by BPA in animal studies. However, there are few studies in humans on the effects of BPA on the liver. Therefore, we evaluated the relationship between urinary BPA levels and liver function in elderly subjects using repeated measurements.

Methods From 2008 to 2010, a total of 560 elderly subjects residing in Seoul were each evaluated up to three times. At the first visit, demographic data, environmental exposure and lifestyle information were obtained from a systemised questionnaire. At each visit, blood and urine samples were collected and stored for analysis. Linear mixed and GLIMMIX model analyses were performed after adjusting for age, sex, Body Mass Index, alcohol consumption, urinary cotinine concentrations, exercise frequency, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level.

Results The mean urinary BPA concentration was 1.13 μg/g creatinine. Significant relationships were observed between urinary BPA and aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and gamma-glutamyl transferase after adjusting for potential confounders (p<0.05). When subjects were grouped according to urinary BPA concentrations divided by the median value, higher urinary BPA concentrations were associated with increased abnormal liver function (OR 2.66; 95% CI 1.15 to 5.90).

Conclusions Community-level exposure to BPA was associated with abnormal liver function in the elderly, indicating that more stringent control of BPA is necessary to protect susceptible populations.

  • AGEING
  • ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
  • EPIDEMIOLOGY

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