Pesticide exposure alters follicle-stimulating hormone levels in Mexican agricultural workers.

Organophosphorous pesticides (OPs) are suspected of altering reproductive function by reducing brain acetylcholinesterase activity and monoamine levels, thus impairing hypothalamic and/or pituitary endocrine functions and gonadal processes. Our objective was to evaluate in a longitudinal study the association between OP exposure and serum levels of pituitary and sex hormones. Urinary OP metabolite levels were measured by gas-liquid chromatography, and serum pituitary and sex hormone levels by enzymatic immunoassay and radioimmunoassay in 64 men. A total of 147 urine and blood samples were analyzed for each parameter. More than 80% of the participants had at least one OP metabolite in their urine samples. The most frequent metabolite found was diethylthiophosphate (DETP; 55%), followed by diethylphosphate (DEP; 46%), dimethylthiophosphate (DMTP; 32%), and dimethyldithiophosphate (DMDTP; 31%). However, the metabolites detected at higher concentrations were DMTP, DEP, DMDTP, and dimethylphosphate. There was a high proportion of individuals with follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) concentrations outside the range of normality (48%). The average FSH serum levels were higher during the heavy pesticide spraying season. However, a multivariate analysis of data collected in all periods showed that serum FSH levels were negatively associated with urinary concentrations of both DMTP and DMDTP, whereas luteinizing hormone (LH) was negatively associated with DMTP. We observed no significant associations between estradiol or testosterone serum levels with OP metabolites. The hormonal disruption in agricultural workers presented here, together with results from experimental animal studies, suggests that OP exposure disrupts the hypothalamic-pituitary endocrine function and also indicates that FSH and LH are the hormones most affected.

Alcohol consumption and pregnancy in the Mexican national addiction survey

En 1988 la Dirección General de Epidemiología y el Instituto Mexicano de Psiquiatría llevaron a cabo la primera Encuesta Nacional de Adicciones (ENA), que proporciona información a nivel nacional y regional sobre el uso de alcohol, tabaco y drogas ilícitas. La ENA incluye una submuestra de mujeres que se embarazaron alguma vez en la vida. Se obtuvieron 5.234 respuestas afirmativas a la pregunta de se alguma vez se habían embarazado. A este grupo se les perguntó si en su último embarazo tuvieron un aborto espontáneo, un bebe nacido muerto o un bebe con anomalías congênitas. La prevalencia de aborto espontáneo fue de 3,8 por ciento, 1,2 por ciento de nascidos muertos y 1,1 por ciento de anomalías congénitas. Se utilizaron modelos de regressión logística múltiple para analizar el papel del consumo de bebidas alcohólicas sobre estos problemas. El consumo de alcohol durante el embarazo sólo se asoció con la prevalencia de anomalías congénitas, con una razón de prevalencia de 3,4. Entre las bebedoras habituales de alcohol en los últimos 12 meses, sólo las mujeres que se ubicaron en la más alta categoría de consumo mostraron relaciones importantes con los tres probemas mencionados. Se sugiere la necessidad de realizar estudios de seguimento para llegar a conclusiones más definitivas.