Association between blood ethylene oxide levels and the prevalence of hypertension.

The relationship of blood ethylene oxide levels with hypertension and blood pressure has not been addressed. A total of 5005 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2013-2016 were enrolled. Hypertension was defined as a mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) of at least 140 mmHg, a mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of at least 90 mmHg, or both, and/or the self-reported use of prescription drugs for diagnosed hypertension. Generalized linear regression models and restricted cubic spline plots were performed to explore the associations of ethylene oxide levels with hypertension and blood pressure. The prevalence of hypertension in the study sample was 27.6%. After adjusting for confounding factors, compared with the lowest quantile, the odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of hypertension across the quantiles of ethylene oxide levels were 0.80 (0.63, 1.03), 0.91 (0.71, 1.16), and 1.39 (1.06, 1.82), respectively (P-value for trend = 0.001). Compared with the lowest quantile, the highest quantile of blood ethylene oxide levels was significantly associated with the worst DBP profile by approximately 2.67 mmHg. Blood ethylene oxide levels showed a strong nonlinear and positive association with DBP, while no significant association was observed between blood ethylene oxide levels and SBP. These results provide epidemiological evidence of elevated blood levels of ethylene oxide in relation to a higher prevalence of hypertension and higher DBP. Further study is warranted to address these issues.

Association of aldehydes exposure with obesity in adults.

Environmental pollutants may play a role in the aetiology of obesity beyond conventional factors. The associations between environmental exposure to aldehydes and obesity remain unclear. The objective of this study is to determine whether aldehyde exposure is associated with obesity in adults. We analysed data from 1977 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2013-2014 aged ≥ 18 years. Obesity was assessed through body mass index (BMI) measurements. Generalized linear regression and restricted cubic spline models were analysed to assess the association between aldehydes and outcomes. After multivariable adjustment, isopentanaldehyde was inversely associated with obesity, while no significant association was observed between any other aldehydes and obesity. Compared with the lowest quartile, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) of obesity with a 95% confidence interval (CI) for the highest quartile was 0.50 (0.35, 0.70) for isopentanaldehyde. Analyses using a restricted cubic spline indicated that the association between isopentanaldehyde and obesity is nonlinear. Threshold effect analysis demonstrated that the inflection point of isopentanaldehyde was 1.26 ng/ml. Each 1-fold increase in isopentanaldehyde exhibited an 18% decrease in the odds of obesity (OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.79-1.09) on the left side of the inflection point and an 81% decrease (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.08-0.45) on the right side of the inflection point. Similar associations were also observed among isopentanaldehyde and abdominal obesity, BMI, and waist circumference. These cross-sectional results show a nonlinear and inverse association between isopentanaldehyde and obesity.