An anti-inflammatory response of an organic food intervention by reducing pesticide exposures in children of Cyprus: A cluster-randomized crossover trial

The objectives were to i) determine the effectiveness of an organic food intervention in reducing the magnitude of an inflammation biomarker (CRP) in children (10-12 years) and ii) assess the association between the biomarkers of exposure to pesticides and CRP. This was part of the ORGANIKO cluster-randomized cross-over trial entailing a 40-day organic food treatment in healthy children. Urinary biomarkers of exposure to pesticides and inflammation (CRP) were measured using tandem mass spectrometry and ELISA immunoassay, respectively. Linear mixed-effect regression models of CRP were used to account for the effect and duration of organic food treatment. Multiple comparisons were handled using Benjamini-Hochberg correction. Results supported an anti-inflammatory effect of organic food treatment in children, albeit with mixed results, depending on creatinine adjustment method; biomarker levels divided by urinary creatinine (method a1), or urinary creatinine used as a fixed effect variable (a2). In the a1 method, a time-dependent reduction for creatinine-adjusted CRP (β = -0.019; 95% CI: 0.031, -0.006; q = 0.045) was observed during the organic food intervention period. A statistically significant association (β = 0.104; 95% CI: 0.035, 0.173; q = 0.045) was found between the biomarker of pyrethroids exposure (3-PBA) and CRP inflammatory biomarker, but not for 6-CN. In the a2 method, similar trend of time-dependent reduction for creatinine-adjusted CRP (β = -0.008; 95% CI: 0.0...
Source: Environmental Research - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: research