Rotenone
From
Contents |
Summary
TBD.
News Timeline
- NIH study finds two pesticides associated with Parkinson’s disease (Media release), National Institutes of Health, February 11, 2011.
- Debunked. In this study of self-reported exposures to 31 pesticides, the researchers have no idea how much of any pesticide (or whatever else) any of the study subjects were exposed to — so they really can't link Parkinson's Disease with anything, let alone paraquat and rotenone. That the researchers collected data on 31 pesticides means that the study is subject to the multiple comparisons problem. The study is also very small — only 72 cases of PD may have been exposed to paraquat; only 51 cases may have been exposed to rotenone. The study is internally inconsistent with respect to the hypothesized modes of the pesticides causing PD (i.e., oxidative stress or mitrochondiral dysfunction). That is, other than paraquat, no other oxidative stressor was associated with PD. Similarly, no mitochondrial inhibitor other than rotenone was associated with PD. Finally, of the nine other published studies, none link paraquat with PD. Rotenone was not linked with PD in the only other published study of a potential association.
Studies and Reports
- Kamel F et al., Pesticide exposure and self-reported Parkinson's disease in the agricultural health study, Am J Epidemiol. 2007 Feb 15;165(4):364-74. Epub 2006 Nov 20.
- Abstract. "Previous studies based on limited exposure assessment have suggested that Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with pesticide exposure. The authors used data obtained from licensed private pesticide applicators and spouses participating in the Agricultural Health Study to evaluate the relation of self-reported PD to pesticide exposure. Cohort members, who were enrolled in 1993-1997, provided detailed information on lifetime pesticide use. At follow-up in 1999-2003, 68% of the cohort was interviewed. Cases were defined as participants who reported physician-diagnosed PD at enrollment (prevalent cases, n = 83) or follow-up (incident cases, n = 78). Cases were compared with cohort members who did not report PD (n = 79,557 at enrollment and n = 55,931 at follow-up). Incident PD was associated with cumulative days of pesticide use at enrollment (for highest quartile vs. lowest, odds ratio (OR) = 2.3, 95% confidence interval: 1.2, 4.5; p-trend = 0.009), with personally applying pesticides more than half the time (OR = 1.9, 95% confidence interval: 0.7, 4.7), and with some specific pesticides (ORs > or = 1.4). Prevalent PD was not associated with overall pesticide use. This study suggests that exposure to certain pesticides may increase PD risk. Findings for specific chemicals may provide fruitful leads for further investigation."
- Comment. The reported association between rotenone and PD was not statistically significant.
