Abstract:
Objective To investigate the association between phthalates and hypertension in perimenopausal women.
Methods From the 2011–2012, 2013–2014, 2015–2016, and 2017–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) databases (10 911 participants), 790 perimenopausal women with available blood pressure measurements and phthalate metabolite data were included. Participants were categorized into hypertension (n=298) and non-hypertension (n=492) groups based on the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines (systolic blood pressure ≥130 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥80 mmHg). High-performance liquid chromatography was used to determine the metabolites of phthalates in urine. The differences in phthalate metabolites between two groups were analyzed. Spearman correlation analysis was used to assesse the relationship between total phthalate metabolites and blood pressure. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors influencing hypertension. Restricted cubic spline models were used to analyz the dose-response relationship between total phthalate metabolites and blood pressure. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the predictive value of total phthalate metabolites on hypertension.
Results Phthalate metabolite levels were significantly higher in the hypertension group than in that in the non-hypertension group total phthalate metabolites: 132.940 (59.120, 332.813) vs 118.290 (45.120, 318.283) ng/L, U=21.428, P<0.001. Spearman analysis revealed positive correlations between total phthalate metabolites and both systolic (r=0.328) and diastolic blood pressure (r=0.319) (both P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression showed that total phthalate metabolites was in influencing factors for hypertension in perimenopausal women (OR=1.732, 95% CI: 1.374–2.182). Restricted cubic spline analysis demonstrated a significant dose-dependent relationship between total phthalate metabolites and hypertension risk (P<0.01). ROC analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.727 (95% CI: 0.701–0.753) for total phthalate metabolites predicting hypertension.
Conclusion Phthalate exposure is associated with hypertension in perimenopausal women.