Mediation of the Relationship between Maternal Phthalate Exposure and Preterm Birth by Oxidative Stress with Repeated Measurements across Pregnancy.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mediation analysis is useful for understanding mechanisms and has been used minimally in the study of the environment and disease.

Objective

We examined mediation of the association between phthalate exposure during pregnancy and preterm birth by oxidative stress.

Methods

This nested case-control study of preterm birth (n = 130 cases, 352 controls) included women who delivered in Boston, Massachusestts, from 2006 through 2008. Phthalate metabolites and 8-isoprostane, an oxidative stress biomarker, were measured in urine from three visits in pregnancy. We applied four counterfactual mediation methods: method 1, utilizing exposure and mediator averages; method 2, using averages but allowing for an exposure-mediator interaction; method 3, incorporating

SUBMITTER: Ferguson KK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5332184 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature