Telomere length mediates the association between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exposure and abnormal glucose level among Chinese coke oven plant workers

Abstract Introduction Diabetes is a chronic and complex disease determined by environmental and genetic factors. This study aimed to investigate the association between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exposure and fasting blood glucose levels and telomere length among coke-oven plant workers, to explore potential role of telomere length (TL) in the association between PAHs exposure and abnormal glucose level. Methods The cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2017. The high-performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) was used to detect 11 urine biomarkers of PAHs exposure. TL was measured using the Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) method. Logistic regression model, the modified Poisson regression models, and mediation analysis were used to evaluate the associations between PAHs exposure, TL, and abnormal glucose. Results The results showed that the urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-PYR) was positively related to abnormal glucose in a dose-dependent manner (P trend = 0.007), the prevalence ratio of abnormal glucose was 8% (95% CI: 1.01 - 1.16) higher in 3rd tertile of urinary 1-PYR levels. Urinary 1-PYR in the 2nd tertile and 3rd tertile were associated with a 53% (OR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.28 - 0.79) and 59% (OR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.23 - 0.76) higher risk of shortening TL. And there was a negatively association between 1-PYR and TL in a dose-dependent manner (P trend = 0.045). We observed that the association between 1-PYR and abnormal glucose was more significantly positive among participants with median TL level (P trend = 0.006). In addition, mediation analysis showed the TL could explain 11.7% of the effect of abnormal glucose related to PAHs exposure. Conclusions Our findings suggested the effect of abnormal glucose related to PAHs exposure was mediated by telomere length in coke oven plant workers.