Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on March 31, 2005
Human Reproduction 2005 20(7):1910-1914; doi:10.1093/humrep/deh856
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Exposure to persistent organochlorine pollutants and seminal levels of markers of epididymal and accessory sex gland functions in Swedish men
1 Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University Hospital, SE-221 85 Lund and 2 Fertility Centre, Scanian Andrology Centre, Malmö University Hospital, SE-205 02 Malmö, Sweden
3 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University, SE-221 85 Lund, Sweden. Email: anna.rignell-hydbom{at}ymed.lu.se
BACKGROUND: A major exposure route for persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs) in Sweden is through consumption of fatty fish from the Baltic Sea. Endocrine disruptors, such as POPs, may have a negative impact on sperm quality. The present study aimed to investigate whether exposure to 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (CB-153) and 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)-ethylene (p,p'-DDE) affects epididymal and accessory sex gland function. METHODS: 157 fishermen from the coastal stretches of Sweden, aged 27–67 years, provided semen samples which were analyzed for prostate-specific antigen (PSA), neutral 
-glucosidase (NAG), fructose and zinc levels. Serum levels of CB-153 and p'p-DDE were determined. RESULTS: The median CB-153 serum level was 189 ng/g lipid (range 40–1460) and a median p,p'-DDE serum level 231 ng/g lipid (range 40–2252). There was a significant linear association between CB-153 and total amount of PSA (slope [
]=–2.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] –4.0, –0.9; P=0.02). With age, abstinence time and smoking included in the model the association became non-significant (=–1.4, 95% CI–3.0, 0.1; P=0.07). There were no significant associations between CB-153 and zinc, fructose and NAG. As for the exposure variable p,p'-DDE and the outcome variables, no significant associations were found. CONCLUSIONS: The study gives only very limited support of an association between CB-153 in serum and total PSA, and a random finding cannot be excluded.
Key words: accessory sex glands/epididymis/polychlorinated biphenyls/p,p'-DDE/prostate-specific antigen