Phenol exposure, polygenic risk score, and dyslexia in Chinese children: Gene-environment interaction.

Phenols, widespread environmental chemicals, may influence neurodevelopment, but their association with dyslexia remains poorly understood. This case-control study, part of the Tongji Reading Environment and Dyslexia Research Project, included 1062 children. We measured urinary levels of three bisphenols, three benzophenones, and two antimicrobials, and constructed a dyslexia-specific polygenic risk score (PRS) using genome-wide association study data. Conditional logistic regression assessed the relationship between phenol exposure and dyslexia risk. Participants were stratified into four groups based on median phenol exposure and PRS levels to examine the modifying role of genetic susceptibility. Phenol compounds were detected in most urine samples. Elevated urinary bisphenol A (BPA) levels were significantly associated with increased dyslexia risk (OR = 1.23, 95 % CI: 1.03-1.46), particularly in girls. Children with high PRS and high BPA exposure had a substantially higher dyslexia risk (OR = 1.70, 95 % CI: 1.05-2.76) compared to those with low PRS and low BPA exposure. However, no significant interaction was observed between PRS and BPA exposure. These findings emphasize the importance of reducing BPA exposure as a potential preventive measure and highlight the need for further research to elucidate causal pathways and mechanisms underlying these associations.