Associations between prenatal dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls exposure and glucocorticoid and androgenic hormones in umbilical cord blood

This study investigates the association between prenatal exposure to dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DLPCBs) and glucocorticoid and androgenic hormone levels in cord blood. We analyzed cord blood samples from 500 mother-infant pairs from China (2022-2023), focusing on hormones including cortisol, cortisone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and androstenedione. The main analysis revealed significant reductions in cortisol levels with increased exposure to PCB-77 ((3 = -3.37, 95% CI: -6.41, -0.32), PCB-81 ((3 = -2.90, 95% CI: -5.40, -0.39), and PCB-105 ((3 = -2.27, 95% CI: -4.45, -0.09). Cortisone levels also decreased with PCB-77 ((3 = -6.00, 95% CI: -10.98, -1.02), while DHEA increased with PCB-81 exposure ((3 = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.08, 0.31). Furthermore, the cortisol/DHEA ratio decreased significantly with PCB-77 ((3 = -2.45, 95% CI: -4.01, -0.88), indicating a disruption in the balance of glucocorticoid and androgenic hormones. Stratified analyses revealed significant sex-specific associations. Among boys, PCB189 was most strongly associated with reduced cortisol levels, while PCB169 exhibited the largest negative effect in girls. Mixture analysis using quantile g-computation demonstrated that each quartile increase in combined DL-PCB exposure was associated with a significant decrease in cortisol ((3 = -2.85, 95% CI: -4.73, -0.97) and cortisone ((3 = -4.78, 95% CI: -7.85, -1.71), alongside a significant increase in DHEA ((3 = 0.27, 95% CI: 0.11, 0.43) and androstenedione ((3 = 0.02, 95% 0.01, 0.04). The cortisol/DHEA and glucocorticoid/androgenic ratios also showed a significant reduction. Generalized weighted quantile sum (gWQS) analysis corroborated the negative associations for cortisol and cortisone but did not detect significant effects for DHEA and androstenedione. These results underscore the complex interactions of DL-PCB exposure with glucocorticoid and androgenic hormones, highlighting the importance of sex-specific and mixture-based approaches to understanding endocrine disruption in prenatal development.