Volatile organic compounds exposure in relation to glucose homeostasis and type 2 diabetes in older adults from the NHANES.

The impact of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on type 2 diabetes (T2D) among older adults is unknown. The multiple linear regression model and the multiple binary logistic regression were used to evaluate the relationships between mVOCs and glucose homeostasis/T2D, respectively. Among the 19 mVOCs, the higher levels of urinary N-acetyl-S-(2-hydroxypropyl)-L-cysteine (2HPMA, compound CID:44146439) and N-acetyl-S-(2-hydroxypropyl)-L-cysteine (HPMMA, compound CID:107774684) were significantly associated with higher odds of T2D (OR = 1.16, 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.01-1.34 for 2HPMA; and OR = 1.27, 95% CI:1.04-1.54 for HPMMA). In addition, higher concentrations of multiple mVOCs in urine were significantly correlated with glucose homeostasis biomarkers, including 2HPMA and 2-thioxothiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (TTCA, compound CID:3034757) with fasting glucose, HPMMA and mandelic acid (MA, compound CID:1292) with HbA1c, phenylglyoxylic acid (PGA, compound CID:11915) with serum insulin, HbA1c and HOMA-IR. Our findings suggested that exposure to VOCs were associated with increased odds of T2D in older adults, which might be mediated by impaired glucose homeostasis. Mitigating VOCs should be a necessary component of public health strategies aimed at reducing the burden of type 2 diabetes.