Prenatal Exposure to Phthalates and the Development of Eczema Phenotypes in Male Children: Results from the EDEN Mother-Child Cohort Study.

ECZEMA -- Risk factors; BIOMARKERS; CONFIDENCE intervals; LONGITUDINAL method; MATERNAL age; PLASTICS; RESEARCH funding; URINALYSIS; PROPORTIONAL hazards models; DATA analysis software; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; MATERNAL exposure

BACKGROUND: Contradictory results exist regarding the importance of early-life exposure to phthalates for development of childhood eczema. OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the association between maternal urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites between the 24th and 28th week of gestation and occurrence of eczema in their sons up to 5 y of age, according to allergic sensitization as assessed by total immunoglobulin E (IgE) in a subsample of individuals. METHODS: Data on health outcomes and background factors were collected using five standardized annual questionnaires completed by parents at the children's ages of 1-5 y, and their associations with phthalate metabolite urinary concentrations were assessed in 604 mother-son pairs with adjusted multiple logistic regression and Cox's survival model. Several eczema phenotypes were considered. Atopic status was assessed at 5 y of age in 293 boys through total IgE assessment. RESULTS: At 5 y of age, the prevalence of ever eczema was 30.4%. Metabolites of di-isobutyl phthalate (DiBP) and di-isononyl phthalate (DiNP) were positively associated with early-onset (0-24 mo of age) eczema (15.7%) and late-onset (24-60 mo of age) eczema (14.7%). Applying the Cox's model showed a significant association of occurrence of eczema in the first 5 y of life with DiBP and DiNP metabolites. Among IgE-sensitized boys, metabolites of di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) and DiBP were significantly associated with ever eczema {hazard ratio (HR) = 1.67 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.10, 2.54], p = 0.01 and HR = 1.87 (95% CI: 1.01, 3.48), p = 0.04, respectively}. CONCLUSIONS: Occurrence of eczema in early childhood may be influenced by prenatal exposure to certain phthalates in boys. Further investigations are needed to confirm this observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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