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Air Force Research Laboratory, Brooks Air Force Base (J.E.M., J.L.K.), Texas 78235; and Vista Technologies, Inc. (F.Z.A.), San Antonio, Texas 78218
Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Joel E. Michalek, Ph.D., AFRL/HEDB, 2606 Doolittle Road, Building 807, Brooks Air Force Base, Texas 78235-5250.
| Abstract |
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53 yr), lean (percent body fat,
25%) nondiabetic veterans in the high category, the slope relating
the logarithm of SHBG and the logarithm of insulin was significantly
decreased. These findings suggest a compensatory metabolic relationship
between dioxin and insulin regulation. | Introduction |
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To further elucidate the relation between dioxin and diabetes mellitus we studied the effect of dioxin body burden on the relation between SHBG and insulin and fasting glucose in Ranch Hand veterans. These data were gathered during 10 yr of follow-up in the ongoing Air Force Health Study from veterans whose exposure to dioxin and herbicides in Vietnam occurred from 2435 yr ago.
| Subjects and Methods |
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The details of study design and subject selection were published previously (5). The study seeks to determine whether veterans of Operation Ranch Hand (the personnel tasked with spraying operations during the Vietnam conflict) have experienced adverse health that can be attributed to exposure to herbicides or their dioxin contaminant. Ranch Hand veterans were exposed to herbicides during flight operations and maintenance of the aircraft and herbicide spray equipment. The study compares the current health and cumulative mortality experience of Ranch Hand veterans with those of a comparison group of other Air Force veterans who served in Southeast Asia during the same period (19621971) that the Ranch Hand unit was active and who were not involved with spraying herbicides. Comparison veterans were matched to Ranch Hands for age, race, and military occupation. The study includes periodic analyses of noncombat mortality, in-person interviews, and physical examinations. Physical examinations were conducted in 1982, 1985, 1987, 1992, and 1997. An additional examination is planned for 2002. All Ranch Hand and comparison veterans are male.
In 1987, blood from willing participants was collected and assayed for dioxin (5). Participation was voluntary and consent forms were signed at the examination site. Veterans with no quantifiable dioxin result in 1987, those who refused in 1987, and subjects new to the study were also asked to give blood for the assay at the 1992 examination.
We reviewed medical records and laboratory results to determine diabetic status. Veterans who had a verified history of diabetes by medical diagnosis or exhibited a 2-h postprandial glucose laboratory value of 200 mg/dL or greater before July 1995 were classified as diabetic. Veterans not meeting these criteria were defined as nondiabetic.
Every veteran who attended the 1992 physical examination regardless of
his current vital status was considered for inclusion in the analysis.
We excluded from all statistical analyses veterans taking hormone
medications; those who had prostatic cancer, cancer of the testes or
other genital organ, or surgery of the testes; and those with a history
of diabetes before their service in Southeast Asia. Additionally, we
excluded those with no dioxin measurement or with a nonquantifiable
dioxin result and comparison veterans with a dioxin result greater than
10 parts/trillion (ppt), the value we regard as the threshold for
background dioxin exposure. Table 1
shows
sample size reductions by group (Ranch Hand and comparison).
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We report SHBG, insulin, and fasting glucose levels. SHBG (nanomoles per L) and serum insulin (microinternational units per mL) were measured by RIA. Fasting glucose (milligrams per dL) was determined with Paramax equipment. SHBG was measured after an overnight fast. Among veterans not known to have diabetes, insulin was measured 2 h after a 100-g glucose load standardized by the use of Glucola. Among known diabetics, insulin was measured after an overnight fast. All measurements were determined at the 1992 physical examination (7).
Statistical analysis
We defined percent body fat (PBF) (8) as PBF = 1.26 x BMI - 13.305, where BMI was the body mass index [weight (kilograms) divided by the square of height (meters)] measured at the time of blood drawing for dioxin measurement. We defined age as the age in years at the time of the 1992 physical examination. We dichotomized age at the median (53 yr) and PBF at 25% for the purpose of stratifying by age and PBF.
We applied a logarithmic transformation to insulin, fasting glucose, and SHBG. We analyzed data with analysis of covariance, partial correlations, linear models, and graphs and adjusted all analyses for age and PBF. We used analysis of covariance to contrast the high, low, and background dioxin exposure categories with the comparison category with regard to insulin, fasting glucose, and SHBG. We report the P value for each contrast and the geometric mean of the dependent variable within each exposure category. We assessed the significance of the interaction of SHBG, insulin, fasting glucose, and dioxin category using linear models with SHBG and dioxin category as independent variables and insulin and fasting glucose as dependent variables. Each analysis proceeded in two steps. In the first step, the model included SHBG, age, PBF, dioxin category, all second order interactions, all third order interactions, and a fourth order interaction involving age, PBF, SHBG, and dioxin. In the second step, we stratified by age and PBF and analyzed within each strata with a reduced model containing only SHBG, dioxin category, and the interaction of SHBG and dioxin category. We present the results of full and reduced models and describe interactions with scatter plots and least square lines. We adjusted all analyses for diabetic status by stratification.
| Results |
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) with the logarithm of SHBG adjusted for age
and PBF by dioxin category and diabetic status are given in Table 5
= -0.07, P = 0.03; background:
=
-0.14, P = 0.01; Low:
= -0.15, P
= 0.03; High:
= -0.27, P < 0.001). The
correlation between the logarithm of SHBG and the logarithm of fasting
glucose was significantly different from zero in the high dioxin
category (
= -0.19, P = 0.007). There were no
significant partial correlations with the logarithm of SHBG among
diabetic veterans.
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Insulin interacted significantly (P = 0.01) with SHBG
and dioxin category (Fig. 1
) among young
(age,
53 yr), lean (PBF,
25%), nondiabetic veterans (comparison:
slope = -0.06; background: slope = -0.10; low: slope =
-0.26; high: slope = -0.36), reflecting a decrease in the slope
with dioxin category. The slope in the high category was significantly
different from 0 (P < 0.001) and significantly
different from the comparison slope (P = 0.003). The
slope in the low category was significantly different from 0
(P = 0.02) and was borderline significantly different
from the comparison slope (P = 0.07). The sample sizes
in this stratum were: comparison, n = 450; background, n =
158; low, n = 80; and high, n = 105. The patterns in the
other three nondiabetic strata were dissimilar and did not exhibit
significant interactions with dioxin.
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25%), nondiabetic veterans
(comparison, slope = 0.00; background, slope = 0.00; low,
slope = 0.01; high, slope, -0.03), reflecting a decreased slope
in the high category. The slope in the high category was significantly
different from 0 (P = 0.05) and borderline
significantly different from the comparison slope (P =
0.09). The sample sizes in this stratum were: comparison, n = 364;
background, n = 152; low, n = 90; and high, n = 45. The
patterns in the other three nondiabetic strata were dissimilar and did
not exhibit significant interactions with dioxin. | Discussion |
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Dioxins estrogen-like activity has been implicated in a 15-yr study of primates that revealed an incidence of endometriosis that directly correlated with dioxin exposure and in which the severity of disease depended on the dose administered (18). The rate of conversion of testosterone to estradiol in males could be stimulated by dioxin, leading to an increased level of SHBG to compensate for the increased rate of conversion. In young lean nondiabetic veterans exposed to dioxin, the negative correlation of SHGB levels to insulin levels suggests that the transported sex hormones are down-regulating insulin release. In other words, the increase in testosterone metabolism could lead to a rise in SHBG to maintain the steady state levels of testosterone within normal limits, a compensatory effect. Dioxin, like estrogen, may have initially increased the induction of NOS activity, leading to a negative feedback, that is, decreased sensitivity to arginine, or decreased NOS activity and deregulation of insulin release. If correct, this speculative mechanism would lead to hyperinsulinemia and compensatory desensitization to insulin and eventually type 2 diabetes. This hypothesis is consistent with an association among dioxin body burden and type 2 diabetes mellitus in Ranch Hand veterans (1). It is unknown why this hypothetical mechanism should operate specifically in young lean nondiabetic veterans, although it seems plausible that other stronger factors, such as age, body fat, and diabetes, may overwhelm the effects in the other strata.
Our results were consistent with those of a recent study of men participating in the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT) (3). Among comparison veterans, we found that SHBG was lower in nondiabetics than in diabetics, and among nondiabetic veterans, insulin and SHBG were negatively correlated. Our finding of increased insulin levels in the high dioxin exposure category, and the association between dioxin and diabetes (1) appeared consistent with the noted positive relation between hyperinsulinemia and diabetes in the MRFIT cohort. Our insulin results were higher than those in the MRFIT cohort, most likely because for veterans not known to be diabetic, our measurements were made after a glucose tolerance test, whereas the MRFIT subjects were measured after an overnight fast (Haffner, S. M., personal communication).
In conclusion, we found a significantly increased mean of the logarithm of insulin, among nondiabetic Ranch Hand veterans in the high dioxin category. We also found significant interactions among dioxin category, SHBG, and insulin and among dioxin category, SHBG, and fasting glucose among lean nondiabetic Ranch Hand veterans on the log scale. These findings suggest a compensatory metabolic relation between dioxin and insulin regulation.
Received August 12, 1998.
Revised January 4, 1999.
Revised February 3, 1999.
Accepted February 3, 1999.
| References |
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