Case control studies

Several case-control studies have examined the role of organic solvent exposure in a population of patients with glomerulonephritis. A total of 14 case control studies examining human exposure to solvents and glomerulonephritis have been conducted and are documented 

Investigator Increased risk factor Investigator Increased risk factor 

Yaqoob, et al. aliphatic 15.5, halogenated 5.3, aromatic-oxygenated 2.0 Harrison, et 8.9  

---

TABLE 5.8(b) Case-control Studies of Urinary Bladder Cancer annong Workers in the Printing Industry ... 

Gonii.alez, C., Lopez-Abente, G., Errezola, M., Escolar, A., Riboli, E., Izarzugaza, 1., and Nebot, iM. (1989). Occupation and bladder cancer in Spam a multi-centre case-control study. Ini. J. Epidemiol. 18, 569-577. 

Sicmiarycki, )., Dewar, R., Nadon, L.., and Gerin, M. (1994). Occupational risk factors for bladder cancer Results from a case-control study in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Am. J. Epide-miol. 140, 1061-1080. 

Epidemiological and clinical studies of workers and other long-term case-control studies... 

The two basic types of analytical studies are the cohort and the case-control study. Each has strengths and weaknesses as well as different resource and time requirements. The cohort study involves the study of indi iduals classified by e.xposure characteristics, e.g., a group of welders. The study then follows the development of disease in the welders group as well as in an unexposed comparison population. The measure that assesses the magnitude of... 

Epidemiological and case-control studies suggested that Ca2+ channel blockers cause increased risk for... 

In a case-control study of pesticide factory workers in Brazil exposed to methyl parathion and formulating solvents, the incidence of chromosomal aberrations in lymphocytes was investigated (De Cassia Stocco et al. 1982). Though dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) was coformulated with methyl parathion, blood DDT levels in the methyl parathion-examined workers and "nonexposed" workers were not significantly different. These workers were presumably exposed to methyl parathion via both inhalation and dermal routes however, a dose level was not reported. The exposed workers showed blood cholinesterase depressions between 50 and 75%. However, the baseline blood cholinesterase levels in nonexposed workers were not reported. No increases in the percentage of lymphocytes with chromosome breaks were found in 15 of these workers who were exposed to methyl parathion from 1 week to up to 7 years as compared with controls. The controls consisted of 13 men who had not been occupationally exposed to any chemical and were of comparable age and socioeconomic level. This study is limited because of concomitant exposure to formulating solvents, the recent history of exposure for the workers was not reported, the selection of the control group was not described adequately, and the sample size was limited. 

Case-Control Study—A t5q)e of epidemiological study which examines the relationship between a particular outcome (disease or condition) and a variety of potential causative agents (such as toxic chemicals). In a case-controlled study, a group of people with a specified and well-defined outcome is identified and compared to a similar group of people without outcome. 

In a case-control study of the relation between occupational exposures to various suspected estrogenic chemicals and the occurrence of breast cancer, the breast cancer odds ratio (OR) was not elevated above unity (OR=0.8 95% 01=0.2-3.2) for occupational exposure to endosulfan compared to unexposed controls (Aschengrau et al. 1998) however, the sample sizes were very small (three exposed seven not exposed), and co-exposure to other unreported chemicals also reportedly occurred. Both of these factors may have contributed to the high degree of uncertainty in the OR indicated by the wide confidence interval. 

Loss of insurance coverage (in a postmarketing case control study)... 

Cui L, Locatelli L et al (1997) Effect of nucleoside analogs on neurite regeneration and mitochondrial DNA synthesis in PC-12 cells. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 280(3) 1228-1234 Dal Pan GJ, Glass JD et al (1994) Clinicopathologic correlations of HIV-l-associated vacuolar myelopathy an autopsy-based case-control study. Neurology 44(11) 2159-2164 Dalakas MC (2001) Peripheral neuropathy and antiretroviral drugs. J Peripher Nerv Syst 6(l) 14-20 Dalakas MC, Semino-Mora C et al (2001) Mitochondrial alterations with mitochondrial DNA depletion in the nerves of AIDS patients with peripheral neuropathy induced by 2 3 -dideoxycytidine (ddC). Lab Invest 81(11) 1537-1544... 

Lohmoller G, Matuschke A et al (1989) [False-positive test of autonomic neuropathy in HIV infection and AIDS Case control study of heart rate variability in 62 HIV positive patients]. Med Klin (Munich) 84(5) 242-245... 

A retrospective case-control study conducted in humans compared spontaneous abortion rates among women who had been exposed occupationally or nonoccupationally to trichloroethylene and other solvents to rates among women without solvent exposure (Windham et al. 1991). The authors observed approximately three times the risk of spontaneous abortion with exposure to trichloroethylene. This risk increased further when women with less than a half hour of exposure to trichloroethylene each week were excluded from the analysis. However, a consistent dose-response relationship was not observed, and most of the women were exposed to a variety of solvents, not just trichloroethylene. 

Reproductive Toxicity. Increased miscarriages were reported in one study of nurse-anesthetists exposed to trichloroethylene and other solvents (Corbett et al. 1974). A retrospective case-control study has should an approximate 3-fold increase in spontaneous abortion in women exposed to trichloroethylene and other solvents (Windham et al. 1991). Significant effects on sperm parameters were not observed in men occupationally exposed to trichloroethylene (Rasmussen et al. 1988). Adverse reproductive effects were not noted in humans that ingested water contaminated with trichloroethylene and other solvents (Byers et al. 

Hardell L, Eriksson M, Lenner P, et al. 1981. Malignant lymphoma and exposure to chemicals, especially organic solvents, chlorophenols and phenoxy acids A case-control study. Br J Cancer 43 169-176. 

H, YU s z and kurtz r c (2000) GSTTl and GSTMl null genotypes and the risk of gastric cancer a case-control study in a Chinese population . Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, 9 73-80. 

An inverse correlation between thyroid cancer risk and phytoestrogens was recently proposed as a result of a multi-ethnic population-based case control study conducted in the San Francisco Bay Area (Hom-Ross et al., 2002). In this study, dietary habits and phytoestrogen consumption were assessed by a food-frequency questionnaire and by a nutrient database. The outcome of the study was that soy-based foods and alfalfa sprouts were associated with a reduction of thyroid cancer risk, whereas a Western diet did not influence cancer risk. No difference was observed between American and Asian women or between pre- and postmenopausal women. Furthermore, among the few compounds examined, the isoflavones genistein and daidzein and the lignan secoisolariciresinol were the phytoestrogens most frequently associated with risk reduction (Horn-Ross et al., 2002). 

NEWMAN T B, BROWNER s w, CUMMINGS s R, HULLEY s B (1988) Designing a new study 11. Cross-sectional and case-control studies, in Hulley S B and Cummings S R, Designing Clinical Research, Baltimore, Williams Wilkins, 75-86. 

VANHARANTA M, VOUTILAINEN S, LAKKA T A, VAN DER LEE M, ADLERCREUTZ H, SALONEN J T (1999) Risk of acute coronary events according to serum concentrations of enterolactone a prospective population-based case-control study, The Lancet, 354, 2112-15. 

Carotenoids and prostate cancer — Numerous epidemiological studies including prospective cohort and case-control studies have demonstrated the protective roles of lycopene, tomatoes, and tomato-derived products on prostate cancer risk other carotenoids showed no effects. " In two studies based on correlations between plasma levels or dietary intake of various carotenoids and prostate cancer risk, lycopene appeared inversely associated with prostate cancer but no association was reported for a-carotene, P-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, or p-cryptoxanthin. - Nevertheless, a protective role of all these carotenoids (provided by tomatoes, pumpkin, spinach, watermelon, and citrus fruits) against prostate cancer was recently reported by Jian et al. ... 

Carotenoids and breast cancer — Among seven case-control studies investigating the correlation between different carotenoid plasma levels or dietary intakes and breast cancer risk, five showed significant inverse associations with some carotenoids. - In most cases, this protective effect was due to 3-carotene and lutein. However, one (the Canadian National Breast Screening Study ) showed no association for all studied carotenoids including (I-carotene and lutein. More recently, another study even demonstrated a positive correlation between breast cancer risk and tissue and serum levels of P-carotenes and total carotenes. Nevertheless, these observational results must be confirmed by intervention studies to prove consistent. 

Carotenoids and urino-digestive cancers — On the whole, findings from epidemiological studies did not demonstrate a protective role of carotenoids against colorectal, gastric, and bladder cancers. Indeed, most prospective and case-control studies of colorectal cancer showed no association with dietary intake or plasma level of most carotenoids. - Only lycopene and lutein were shown to be protective against colorectal cancer. Otherwise, findings from the ATBC study s showed no effect of P-carotene supplementation on colorectal cancer. 

Data concerning gastric cancer are scarce. The prospective Netherlands Cohort Study found no correlation between lutein dietary intake and gastric cancer risk, whereas findings from the Physicians Health Study and the ATBC study reported no effect of P-carotene on gastric cancer incidence. Two case-control studies and three intervention trials (ATBC, CARET, and the Physicians Health Study ) showed no association of P-carotene, lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and P-cryptoxanthin. 

Carotenoids and cardiovascular diseases — Numerous epidemiological studies aimed to study the relationship of carotenoids and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) including coronary accident risk and stroke. It appeared then that observational studies, namely prospective and case-control studies, pointed to a protective effect of carotenoids on myocardial infarct and stroke, but also on some atherosclerosis markers such as intima media thickness (IMT) of the common carotid artery (CCA) and atheromatous plaque formation. 

Among 27 prospective and case-control studies, 16 reported inverse associations between some carotenoids and CVDs, taking plasma or serum concentration as carotenoid biomarkers (11 of 16 studies), dietary intake (5 of 16 studies), or adipose tissue level (1 of 16 studies). With regard to the findings from the studies based on CVD risk, only two of seven presented significant inverse associations of carotenoids, particularly lycopene and P-carotene, whereas five studies of nine showed inverse correlations between myocardial infarcts and lycopene and/or P-carotene the others presented no associations. ... 

Some prospective and case-control studies also investigated the relationship of carotenoids and the evolution of CCA-IMT. Although the EVA study showed no association between total carotenoids and IMT, others like the ARIC study, the Los Angeles Atherosclerosis Study, " and the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study demonstrated the protective role of isolated carotenoids such as lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and P-cryptoxanthin on IMT. Thus, findings from prospective and case-control studies have suggested that some carotenoids such as lycopene and P-carotene may present protective effects against CVD and particularly myocardial infarcts and intima media thickness, a marker of atherosclerosis. 

Panagiotakos, D.B. et al., Consumption of fruits and vegetables in relation to the risk of developing acute coronary syndromes the CARDI02000 case-control study, Nutr. J., 2, 2, 2003. 

Zaroukian, S. et al., Correlation between nutritional biomarkers and breast cancer a case-control study, Breast, 14, 209, 2005. 

Nkondjock, A. and Ghadirian, P, Dietary carotenoids and risk of colon cancer case-control study, Int. J. Cancer, 110, 110, 2004. 

Olmedilla, B. et al.. Serum status of carotenoids and tocopherols in patients with age-related cataracts a case-control study, J. Nutr. Health Aging, 6, 66, 2002. 

---