Association of dioxin in maternal breast milk and salivary steroid hormone levels in preschool children: A five-year follow-up study of a Vietnam cohort.

Recent studies have found elevated dioxin levels inside some former US military air bases in Vietnam, known as hotspots. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association of dioxin exposure and steroid hormone in preschool children in Vietnam. In 2010, 2011, 52 primiparae mother-infant pairs in the hotspot and 52 pairs in a non-exposure region were enrolled.

The relationship between dioxins exposure and risk of prostate cancer with steroid hormone and age in Vietnamese men.

Although Vietnam's massive herbicide exposure in 1960s and 1970s was clearly injurious to health, not all causal relationships have been clarified. We therefore explored associations among dioxins, steroid hormones, age and prostate cancer risk in men. We compared serum levels of dioxin, steroid hormones and prostate specific antigen (PSA) in men aged 56-81years from herbicide-exposed hotspots (n=50) with those from non-sprayed regions (n=48).

Low birth weight of Vietnamese infants is related to their mother's dioxin and glucocorticoid levels.

We aimed to determine the relationship between dioxin congeners in maternal breast milk and maternal glucocorticoid levels with newborn birth weight after nearly 45 years of use of herbicides in the Vietnam War. The study subjects comprised 58 mother-infant pairs in a region with high dioxin levels in the soil (hotspot) and 62 pairs from a control region. Dioxin levels in maternal breast milk were measured by HRGC-HRMS.

Inverse association of highly chlorinated dioxin congeners in maternal breast milk with dehydroepiandrosterone levels in three-year-old Vietnamese children.

This study aims to evaluate the endocrine-disrupting effect of dioxin congeners on adrenal steroid hormones in mother-child pairs. In our previous study, we found that cortisol and cortisone levels were higher in the blood and the saliva of mothers living in a dioxin hotspot area than in mothers from a non-exposed region in Vietnam. In this follow-up study, we determined the salivary steroid hormone levels in 49 and 55 three-year-old children of these mothers in the hotspot and non-exposed region, respectively.

Influence of dioxin exposure upon levels of prostate-specific antigen and steroid hormones in Vietnamese men.

Most studies on the relationship between Agent Orange and prostate cancer have focused on US veterans of the Vietnam War. There have been few studies focusing on the relationship between levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and dioxins or steroid hormones in Vietnamese men. In 2009-2011, we collected blood samples from 97 men who had resided in a "dioxin hotspot" and 85 men from a non-sprayed region in Vietnam.

Levels of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans in breast milk samples from three dioxin-contaminated hotspots of Vietnam.

We determined polychlorinated dibenzodioxin (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) levels in breast milk of 143 primiparae living around the three most dioxin-contaminated areas of Vietnam. The women sampled lived in the vicinity of former U.S.

Relationship between dioxin and steroid hormones in sera of Vietnamese men.

A recent study found an inverse correlation between serum TCDD levels and serum testosterone in the US veterans, while there is little known on the dioxin and steroid hormones about Vietnamese men. We collected blood samples from 48 men who had resided in a hotspot when exposure happened and 38 men in a non-sprayed area. Some steroid hormones levels showed significant differences between two areas.

Mortality and causes of deaths of inhabitants with renal dysfunction induced by cadmium exposure of the polluted Jinzu River basin, Toyama, Japan; a 26-year follow-up.

Background: We aimed to investigate the mortality and causes of deaths of inhabitants with renal dysfunction induced by cadmium (Cd) exposure caused by heavy environmental contamination.

Methods: We conducted a 26-year follow-up survey targeting 7529 inhabitants of the Cd-polluted Jinzu River basin and 2149 controls from non-polluted areas who participated in urinary examinations for proteinuria and glucosuria conducted in 1979 to 1984. When the residents were divided into 4 groups, no finding group, glucosuria group, proteinuria group, glucoproteinuria group, mortality risk ratios for all and specific causes of these groups in the polluted area were compared with that of controls without glucosuria and/or proteinuria after adjustments for age at baseline, smoking status, and history of hypertension using Cox's proportional hazard model.

Serum dioxin levels in Vietnamese men more than 40 years after herbicide spraying.

Recent studies have found elevated dioxin levels inside some U.S. military former air bases in Vietnam, known as hotspots.

Maternal risk factors associated with increased dioxin concentrations in breast milk in a hot spot of dioxin contamination in Vietnam.

This study looked to identify determinants of exposure to dioxin in breast milk from breast-feeding women in a hot spot of dioxin exposure in Vietnam. Breast milk was collected from 140 mothers 1 month after delivery. The risk factors investigated included length of residency, drinking of well water and the frequency of animal food consumption.

High cortisol and cortisone levels are associated with breast milk dioxin concentrations in Vietnamese women.

Objective: Dioxin (polychlorinated dibenzodioxins+polychlorinated dibenzofurans) is one of the most toxic chemical substances known. Although it is suspected to cause endocrine disruption, very few epidemiological studies have been carried out on its effects on human steroid hormones. The aim of this study was to elucidate the association of dioxin exposure with steroid hormone levels in the saliva and serum of Vietnamese women.

The relationship between Agent Orange and prostate specific antigen: a comparison of a hotspot and a non-sprayed area in Vietnam.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the impact of Agent Orange exposure for prostate cancer with a comparison of the prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels between a hotspot and a non-sprayed area.

Methods: The study was conducted in Phu Cat district (hotspot) and Kim Bang district (non-sprayed), with a total of 101 men in the hotspot and 97 men in the non-sprayed area older than 50 years of age. About 5 mL of whole blood and a health status questionnaire were collected from each subject in August 2009-2011.

Dioxin exposure in breast milk and infant neurodevelopment in Vietnam.

Objectives: Dioxin levels in the breast milk of mothers residing near hot spots of dioxin contamination areas in South Vietnam remain much higher than in unsprayed areas, suggesting that fetuses and breast-fed infants may be exposed to high levels of dioxins. The present study investigated the association of infant neurodevelopment in early infancy and dioxin exposure during the perinatal period.

Methods: The study involved 216 mother-infant pairs living near the Da Nang airbase, a dioxin contaminated area in Vietnam.

The relationship between dioxins and salivary steroid hormones in Vietnamese primiparae.

Objective: Nearly 40 years after Agent Orange was last sprayed, we conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate the impact of dioxin exposure on salivary hormones in Vietnamese primiparae. Our previous studies found higher levels of salivary cortisol and cortisone in one of the most highly dioxin-contaminated areas, known as a "hot-spot", than in a non-exposed area. As a result, we suggested that further research with a larger number of participants would be needed to confirm whether dioxin affects steroid hormone levels in Vietnamese primiparae.

Impact of perinatal dioxin exposure on infant growth: a cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in dioxin-contaminated areas in Vietnam.

Dioxin exposure levels remain elevated in residents living around former US Air Force bases in Vietnam, indicating potential adverse impacts on infant growth. In this study, 210 mother-infant pairs in dioxin-contaminated areas in Vietnam were recruited at the infants' birth and followed up for 4 months. Perinatal dioxin exposure levels were estimated by measurement of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans toxic equivalent (PCDDs/Fs-TEQ) in breast milk.

Effects of fatigue on immune function in nurses performing shift work.

Objectives: We investigated the effects of fatigue on NK cell function and lymphocyte subpopulations in nurses performing shift work using a longitudinal design.

Methods: Fifty-seven female nurses engaged in shift work at a hospital in Japan were selected for our study cohort. The hospital used a counterclockwise rotating three-shift system.

Dioxin concentrations in breast milk of Vietnamese nursing mothers: a survey four decades after the herbicide spraying.

In an operation by United States Armed Forces during 1961 to 1971, large quantities of herbicides were sprayed in South Vietnam. These herbicides contained 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-tetraCDD), the most toxic congener of dioxins. Several decades after the herbicide spraying ceased, dioxin concentrations in the environment and human remained elevated in the sprayed areas.

Residual congener pattern of dioxins in human breast milk in southern Vietnam.

This study evaluated residual congener patterns of dioxin/furan (=PCDD/DF) related to tactical herbicides aerially sprayed over the regions of southern Vietnam through Operation Ranch Hand. The study focused on Cam Chinh (CC) commune, Quang Tri province (an area sprayed with tactical herbicides), and the Cam Phuc (CP) commune, Ha Tinh province (a non-sprayed area). Breast milk samples for analysis were collected in September 2002 and July 2003 from lactating primiparous and multiparous mothers born after the war (<31 years old).

Effects of maternal dioxin exposure on newborn size at birth among Japanese mother-infant pairs.

Objective: Maternal exposure to dioxins [polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (DFs)] during pregnancy is known to affect infant growth and neurodevelopment in humans and animals. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between newborn size and the concentration of dioxin isomers in breast milk and to subsequently evaluate the potential toxicity of each dioxin isomer among mothers living in sea coast areas who are at a high risk of contamination due to a high consumption of fish.

Methods: A total of 75 milk samples were obtained within 1 month of delivery from Japanese mothers living in the coastal areas of the Japan Sea.