ArticleInternational journal of hygiene and environmental health2019
Associations of acetylcholinesterase activity with depression and anxiety symptoms among adolescents growing up near pesticide spray sites.
Article in International journal of hygiene and environmental health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers.
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36 citing papers in PubMed, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Urinary pesticide biomarker associations with depression and anxiety scores from adolescence into young adulthood in the ESPINA cohort.Journal of psychiatric research · 2026Article
- Effects of MMP8 inhibitors on chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced neuroinflammation and depressive-like behavior：exploring the underlying molecular mechanisms.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Psychiatric Risk Implications From Behavioral and Neural Effects of Adolescent Exposure to Environmental Insecticides: A Systematic Review of Rodent Studies.Biological psychiatry · 2026Review
- Social Support, Traditional Care Practices, and Mental Health in Rural Ecuadorian Youth.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Associations between concurrent neonicotinoid, pyrethroid, and organophosphate insecticide metabolites and neurocognitive performance in Ecuadorian adolescents.The Science of the total environment · 2025Article
- Neurobehavioral and metabolic effects of prenatal low-dose chlorpyrifos in C57BL/6J mice.Neurotoxicology · 2025Article
- Effects of exposure to insecticides on sleep and neurobehavioural functioning in puberty and adolescence: a scoping review.Arhiv za higijenu rada i toksikologiju · 2025Article
- Article
- Relationships of residential distance to greenhouse floriculture and organophosphate, pyrethroid, and neonicotinoid urinary metabolite concentration in Ecuadorian Adolescents.International journal of health geographics · 2025Article
- Reliability and Validity of the Full-Length Greek-Cypriot Version of the Children's Depression Inventory 2.Psychiatric research and clinical practice · 2025Article
- Arsenic Exposure Induces Cognitive Impairment in Mice with Increased Acetylcholinesterase Activity and Inflammation in the Cortex and Hippocampus: Implications for Alzheimer's Disease.Current Alzheimer research · 2025Article
- Sex and adrenal hormones in association with insecticide biomarkers among adolescents living in ecuadorian agricultural communities.International journal of hygiene and environmental health · 2024Article
- Mental Health Disorders among Thai Farmers: Occupational and Non-Occupational Stressors.Human and ecological risk assessment : HERA · 2024Article
- Hexaconazole exposure disrupt acetylcholinesterase, leading to mental illness.Toxicology research · 2023Article
- The effects of prolonged stress exposure on the brain of rats and insights to understand the impact of work-related stress on caregivers.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2023Article
- Health Effects of Pesticide Exposure in Latin American and the Caribbean Populations: A Scoping Review.Environmental health perspectives · 2022Article
- Evaluation of the therapeutic effect of mesoporous silica nanoparticles loaded with Gallic acid on reserpine-induced depression in Wistar rats.BMC pharmacology & toxicology · 2022Article
- The potential mechanism of Bupleurum against anxiety was predicted by network pharmacology study and molecular docking.Metabolic brain disease · 2022Article
- Concurrent urinary organophosphate metabolites and acetylcholinesterase activity in Ecuadorian adolescents.Environmental research · 2022Article
- Shedding light on the toxicity of SARS-CoV-2-derived peptide in non-target COVID-19 organisms: A study involving inbred and outbred mice.Neurotoxicology · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe cholinergic system has an important role in mood regulation. Cholinesterase inhibitor pesticides (e.g. organophosphates) appear to increase depression and anxiety symptoms in the few existing animal and human studies. Human studies have not described such associations using biomarkers of exposure and studies among children are needed.
methodsWe studied 529 adolescents (ages 11-17y) in agricultural communities in the Ecuadorian Andes (ESPINA study). Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity was measured in a finger-stick sample. Anxiety and depression symptoms were assessed using the CDI-2 and MASC-2 (greater scores reflect greater internalizing symptoms). Models adjusted for age, gender, hemoglobin, income among others.
resultsThe median age was 14.38y and 51% were female. The mean (SD) of the following parameters were: AChE 3.7 U/mL (0.55), depression T-score 53.0 (9.4) and anxiety T-score: 57.6 (9.8). Lower AChE activity (reflecting greater cholinesterase inhibitor exposure) was associated with higher depression symptoms (difference per SD decrease of AChE [β [95% CI:]]: 1.09 [0.02, 2.16]), was stronger among girls (β = 1.61) than boys (β = 0.69), and among younger (<14.38y, β = 1.61) vs. older children (β = 0.57). The associations were strongest among girls <14.38y (β = 3.30 [0.54, 6.05], OR for elevated symptoms per SD decrease in AChE = 2.58 [1.26, 5.27]). No associations were observed with anxiety scores. Analyses of AChE change between 2008 and 2016 concurred with these findings. DISCUSSION: We observed associations between a biomarker of pesticide exposure and children's depression symptoms. Lower AChE activity may create risk for depression in teenagers, particularly among girls during early adolescence.
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