Serum dioxin level in relation to diabetes mellitus among Air Force Veterans with background levels of exposure

Data from several epidemiologic studies suggest that exposure to unusually high amounts of dioxin (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin) increases the risk of diabetes mellitus, and experimental data suggest that the mechanism for this is decreased cellular glucose uptake. To investigate the dose-res ponse relation more closely, we examined the association of serum dioxin le vel with prevalence of diabetes mellitus and with levels of serum insulin a nd glucose among 1,197 veterans in the Air Force Health Study who never had contact with dioxin-contaminated herbicides and whose serum dioxin level w as within the range of background exposure typically seen in the United Sta tes (less than or equal to 10 ng/kg lipid). Compared with those whose serum dioxin level was in the first quartile (<2.8 ng/kg lipid), the multivariat e adjusted odds of diabetes among those in the highest quartile (greater th an or equal to 5.2 ng/kg lipid) was 1.71 (95% confidence interval = 1.00-2. 91). The association was slightly attenuated after adjustment for serum tri glycerides. Whether adjustment for serum triglycerides was appropriate, how ever, cannot be determined with available data. The association of backgrou nd-level dioxin exposure with the prevalence of diabetes in these data may well be due to reasons other than causality, although a causal contribution cannot be wholly dismissed.