Clinical and Molecular Associations for Phthalate Exposure and Diabetic Retinopathy

A 16.0 KB document presents results from an integrative analysis of diabetic retinopathy risk factors. The study analyzed data from the 2017–2018 NHANES survey and an independent clinical cohort, identifying associations with outdoor time, vitamin D levels, and phthalate metabolites. Author Zhi Xu published the findings on figshare under a CC-BY-4.0 license, last updated on 2026-05-13.

Use Cases

• Identifying novel clinical risk factors for diabetic retinopathy based on associations with outdoor time and vitamin D levels.
• Investigating the role of environmental phthalate exposure in disease pathogenesis using network toxicology.
• Predicting molecular interactions between phthalate metabolites and target proteins like SRC, BCL2, and MAPK1 via docking analysis.
• Exploring enrichment of biological pathways such as AGE-RAGE signaling and apoptosis in phthalate-associated diabetic retinopathy.

Strengths

• Integrates data from two distinct sources: the nationally representative 2017–2018 NHANES survey and an independent clinical cohort.
• Reports specific odds ratios (e.g., OR=3.18 for outdoor time, OR=11.0 for cataract) for identified risk factors.
• Employs multiple analytical methods including feature selection, network toxicology, and molecular docking.

Limitations

• The dataset is a 16.0 KB document (DOCX), suggesting limited raw data is included; column-level documentation is absent.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for direct machine learning applications.
• Freshness should be verified as the last update date is in the future (2026-05-13).

Provenance

Source

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2017-2018 and an independent clinical cohort.

Collection Method

Analysis of survey and clinical data using multiple feature-selection methods, network toxicology, and molecular docking.

Time Range

2017-2018 for NHANES data.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-13 04:39:42

Geography

United States (NHANES) and an unspecified location for the clinical cohort.