Urine 2-hydroxyphenanthrene is associated with current asthma: evidence from NHANES 2007–2012

• Published in: International archives of occupational and environmental health 2023-10, Vol.96 (8), p.1123-1136
• Main Authors: Lu, Lingyi, Mao, Tingfeng, Xu, Rui, Liu, Lanxia, Qian, Jiefeng, Yang, Kai, Yuan, Anjie, Wang, Xinyue, Ni, Rong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 1-Hydroxypyrene; Asthma; Bayesian analysis; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental Health; Females; Health risks; Longitudinal studies; Metabolites; Multivariate analysis; Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine; Original Article; Regression analysis; Regression models; Rehabilitation; Smoking; Statistical analysis; Statistical methods; Urine
• ISSN: 0340-0131; 1432-1246; 1432-1246
• DOI: 10.1007/s00420-023-01994-5

Objective The current study aims to explore the effects of nine urine monohydroxy PAH metabolites (OHPAH) including 1-hydroxynaphthalene (1-OHNAP), 2-hydroxynaphthalene (2-OHNAP), 3-hydroxyfluorene (3-OHFLU), 9-hydroxyfluorene (9-OHFLU), 1-hydroxyphenanthrene (1-OHPHE), 2-hydroxyphenanthrene (2-OHPHE), 3-hydroxyphenanthrene (3-OHPHE), and 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHPYR) on current asthma in people in the United States using a variety of statistical techniques. Methods A cross-sectional examination of a subsample of 3804 adults aged ≥20 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) was conducted between 2007 and 2012. To investigate the relationship between urine OHPAHs levels and current asthma, multivariate logistic regression, Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR), and quantile g-computation (qgcomp) were utilized. Results In the multivariate logistic regression model, after controlling for confounders, urine 2-OHPHE was associated with current asthma in both male (AOR = 7.17, 95% CI: 1.28–40.08) and female (AOR = 2.91, 95% CI: 1.06–8.01) smokers. In the qgcomp analysis, 2-OHPHE (39.5%), 1-OHNAP (33.1%), and 2-OHNAP (22.5%) were the major positive contributors to the risk of current asthma (OR = 2.29, 95% CI: 0.99, 5.25), and in female smokers, 9-OHFLU (25.8%), 2-OHFLU (21.5%), and 2-OHPHE (15.1%) were the major positive contributors (OR = 2.19, 95% CI: 1.06, 4.47). The results of the BKMR model basically agreed with qgcomp analysis. Conclusion Our results demonstrate a strong association of urine 2-OHPHE with current asthma, and further longitudinal studies are needed to understand the precise relationship between PAH exposure and current asthma risk.