A meta-analysis of 21 studies presented at the annual meeting of this year of the European Association for the study of diabetes shows that exposure to pesticides is related to 61% more risk of developing diabetes, with different types of pesticidesshowing different levels of risk.The study was conducted by Giorgos Ntritsos, from the University of Ioannina, in Greece, and Ioanna Tzouki and Evangelos Evangelou, of the Imperial College of London, in the United Kingdom, and its colleagues.
The development of diabetes is considered to be the result of an interaction between genetic and environmental factors and new evidence suggests that environmental pollutants - including pesticides - can play an important role in the pathogenesis of this pathology.In this study, the authors conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis of observational studies that evaluated the relationship between exposure to pesticides and diabetes.
The researchers examined the link between exposure to any pesticide and all types of diabetes and carried out separate research analysis that studied only participants with type 2 diabetes (DT2).A total of 21 studies were identified that evaluated the association between pesticides and diabetes, which covered 66,714 individuals (5,066 cases/ 61,648 controls).Most of the works did not report the specific type of diabetes examined.
In almost all analysis studies, exposure to pesticides was determined by biomarkers in the blood or urine, one of the most precise methods.The researchers found that exposure to any type of pesticide was associated with a higher risk of any type of diabetes in 61%.
In the 12 studies that analyzed only type 2 diabetes, the increase in risk was 64% for people exposed to pesticides.In the case of pesticides individually, an increase in the risk in association with exposure to the chlorine, oxclord, trans-nonacloro, DDT, dde dikedrín, heptacloro and HCB was identified.
«This systematic review supports the hypothesis that exposure to various types of pesticides increases the risk of diabetes.Subgroups analysis did not reveal differences in risk estimates depending on the type of studies or exposure measurement.The separate analysis of each of the pesticides suggests that some pesticides are more likely to contribute to the development of diabetes than others, ”conclude the authors.
However, they add that the results must be interpreted cautiously due to the observational nature of the data that does not prove the causality of the observed associations.Now, these experts are performing additional analysis of the data and making a greater meta-analysis of pesticide exposure in relation to other results, including neurological results and various types of cancer.