Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
Volume 186, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.109530
Keywords
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Cyanotoxins; Case-control study; Epidemiology; Risk
Funding
- Dipartimenti di eccellenza 2018-2022, MIUR, Italy
- Neural Sciences of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
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Background: Epidemiological studies highlighted the possibility that exposure to cyanotoxins leads to the development of the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Methods: We devised a population-based case-control study in two Italian populations. We used residential proximity of the residence to water bodies as a measure of possible exposure to cyanotoxins. Results: Based on 703 newly-diagnosed ALS cases and 2737 controls, we calculated an ALS odds ratio (OR) of 1.41 (95% CI: 0.72-2.74) for current residence in the vicinity of water bodies, and a slightly lower estimate for historical residence (OR: 1.31; 95% CI: 0.57-2.99). Subjects <65 years and people living in the Northern Italy province of Modena had higher ORs, especially when historical residence was considered. Conclusions: Overall, despite some risk of bias due to exposure misclassification and unmeasured confounding, our results appear to support the hypothesis that cyanotoxin exposure may increase ALS risk.
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