Associations of Neonicotinoids With Insulin and Glucose Homeostasis Parameters in Us Adults: Nhanes 2015–2016

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2022

Publication Title

Chemosphere

Volume

286

Abstract

Neonicotinoids are replacement insecticides increasingly used for organophosphates, methylcarbamates, and pyrethroids. Experimental evidence suggests neonicotinoids may affect glucose metabolism and insulin secretion through pancreatic β cell dysfunction, oxidative stress, and inflammation. However, no epidemiologic study has investigated neonicotinoids as potential diabetogens. We examined associations between neonicotinoids with insulin and glucose homeostasis parameters among 1381 non-diabetic adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2015–2016). Urinary concentrations of acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, N-desmethyl-acetamiprid, and 5-hydroxy-imidacloprid were quantified. Fasting plasma glucose, insulin, and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were assessed. Insulin resistance was defined as a homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance ≥2.5. We used weighted linear and logistic regression to estimate associations between detectable neonicotinoids with insulin and glucose homeostasis parameters compared to non-detectable neonicotinoid concentrations. Weighted detection frequencies for imidacloprid, 5-hydroxy-imidacloprid, and N-desmethyl-acetamiprid were 4.4 %, 21.5 %, and 32.8 %, respectively. Detectable imidacloprid (β = −4.7 μIU/mL, 95 % confidence interval [CI] -8.5, −0.8) and 5-hydroxy-imidacloprid (β = −2.4 μIU/mL, 95 % CI -4.6, −0.2) were associated with lower fasting plasma insulin levels. Individuals with detectable 5-hydroxy-imidacloprid had lower odds of insulin resistance (odds ratio [OR] = 0.3, 95 % CI 0.2, 0.7). We observed evidence of sexually dimorphic associations between N-desmethyl-acetamiprid with glucose (pint = 0.079) and 5-hydroxy-imidacloprid with HbA1c (pint = 0.038), with patterns suggesting positive associations in males and negative associations in females. Associations between 5-hydroxy-imidacloprid and insulin were modified by body mass index (BMI) (pint = 0.013). We additionally observed age modified associations between 5-hydyroxy-imidacloprid and glucose (pint = 0.048). Results suggest neonicotinoids may be associated with insulin and glucose homeostasis indices and call for prospective studies to examine the metabolic impact of these replacement insecticides in humans.

Keywords

Glucose; HbA1c; HOMA-IR; Insulin; Insulin resistance; Neonicotinoids

Disciplines

Cellular and Molecular Physiology | Pharmacology

UNLV article access

Search your library

Share

COinS