Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32179323›Full record

ArticleEnvironment international2020

Association of urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites with quinolinic acid among women: A potential link to neurological disorders.

Feiby L Nassan, Joshua A Gunn, Melissa M Hill, Paige L Williams, Russ Hauser

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Environment international, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 25% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Phthalates Induced Neurotoxicity: A Mechanistic Approach.Central nervous system agents in medicinal chemistry · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Feiby L NassanDepartment of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: fen769@mail.harvard.edu.
Joshua A GunnEthos Research & Development, Newport KY, USA.
Melissa M HillEthos Research & Development, Newport KY, USA.
Paige L WilliamsDepartment of Biostatistics, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Russ HauserDepartment of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Harvard University · USMassachusetts General Hospital · US

Funding

Translational Research Support CoreP30ES000002 · NIEHS · HARVARD UNIVERSITY (SCH OF PUBLIC HLTH) · PI JAIME ELIZABETH HART · 1985 to 2026
$44.6M
PCBs, Phthalates and Male Reproductive HealthR01ES009718 · NIEHS · HARVARD UNIVERSITY (SCH OF PUBLIC HLTH) · PI HAUSER, RUSS B · 1999 to 2018
$11.6M
NIEHS NIH HHS P30 ES000002NIEHS NIH HHS R01 ES009718
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundQuinolinic acid (QA), a neuroactive metabolite produced during tryptophan degradation, is implicated in the pathogenesis of several neurological disorders. Phthalates are structurally similar to QA, and exposure to phthalates has demonstrated increased QA production and excretion in rodent studies. We recently showed that very high exposure to dibutyl phthalate was associated with higher concentrations of urinary QA in men. However, no human studies examined the associations between background (low) phthalate exposures and QA.

objectivesTo examine the associations of urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites with QA.

methodsFemale participants (N = 126) who participated in a prospective cohort study at the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center provided 758 urine samples (273 during pregnancy and 485 during non-pregnancy). Concentrations of 11 phthalate metabolites and QA in urine were measured. We used multivariable linear mixed effect models to estimate the percent change in urinary QA concentrations associated with a doubling (100%) of urinary phthalate metabolite concentration, and evaluated whether there was effect modification by pregnancy status.

resultsWomen's mean (standard deviation) age was 34.2 (4.0) years with a body mass index of 23.5 (3.7) kg/m

conclusionsUrinary concentrations of several phthalate metabolites were positively associated with QA among women. These findings, along with the known neurotoxicity of QA, warrant the need to examine whether QA concentrations may serve as a pathway for the adverse neurodevelopment outcomes found in children's health studies.

Indexed as

Nervous System DiseasesPhthalic AcidsChildFemaleHumansMaleMassachusettsPregnancyProspective StudiesQuinolinic Acidphthalic acidPhthalic AcidsQuinolinic AcidKynurenine Pathway (KP)Neurologic disorderPhthalateQuinolinic acid (QA)Reproductive

Identifiers

PMID32179323
PMCPMC7136979
OpenAlexW3011132712

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.