A study published Nov. 14 in Gastroenterology has found a link between inflammatory bowel disease risk and pesticides, along with other environmental pollutants.
Manasi Agrawal, MD, a gastroenterologist at Mount Sinai in New York City, discussed the findings in a Nov. 21 article published by Medpage Today.
Here are five notes on the findings of the study:
1. The researchers measured pesticides in serum samples up to 10 years before diagnosis in patients through a case-control study using high resolution mass spectrometry.
2. The study measured hundreds of different chemicals using this technique, Dr. Agrawal said, and then applied mixtures methods to "understand how all of these chemicals linked with inflammatory bowel disease."
3. Prior to diagnosis, the researchers found that this mixture of chemicals was connected to an increased risk of both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease 6-10 years before diagnosis, but not at closer points to diagnosis.
4. This indicated that there may be a link between exposure to these chemicals, which primarily consisted of pesticides, and IBD risk when exposed several years pre-diagnosis.
5. The lag between time of exposure and diagnosis also indicates to researchers that it may take significant time for the biological effects of these exposures to occur.