Analysis of Chlordecone Tissue Concentrations in Patients Treated for Thyroid Surgery at Guadeloupe University Hospital (COTICHLO)

Chlordecone, an organochlorine pesticide used in the French Caribbean for several decades, is recognized as an endocrine disruptor. Accumulation in thyroid tissue may be modeled using several factors, including blood chlordecone levels, environmental exposure associated with place of residence, and dietary habits.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Blood and thyroid tissue collection

Detailed Description

Chlordecone, an organochlorine pesticide, is recognized as an endocrine disruptor. Following ingestion, this molecule is preferentially stored in the liver and, to a lesser extent, in adipose tissue. The development of thyroid goiter may be promoted by exposure to certain substances. Environmental pollutants have been shown to increase TSH secretion, and prolonged exposure to endocrine disruptors affecting the pituitary-thyroid axis has been associated with thyroid neoplasia.

Currently, exposure to chlordecone is assessed through measurement of chlordeconemia (plasma concentration), reflecting exposure during the months preceding sampling and providing an estimate of body burden at the time of assessment. However, chlordecone impregnation in thyroid tissue and adjacent structures has not yet been investigated in humans.

The aim of this study is to model chlordecone concentration in tissues using chlordeconemia, occupational activity, dietary habits, and place of residence.

A biological collection will be established and stored at the Biological Resources Center (CRB) of the University Hospital to support the primary and secondary objectives. Blood, adipose tissue, and thyroid tissue samples will be collected.

The inclusion period will last 11 months, each participant will be involved for 4 months, and the total study duration will be 16 months.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 69
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: mélanie petapermal, Master degree; Phone Number: +590 +590590934667; Email: melanie.petapermal@chu-guadeloupe.fr

Study Locations

• Guadeloupe
  • Les Abymes, Guadeloupe, 97159
    • CHU de la Guadeloupe
    • Contact: suzy Duflo, MD PhD; Email: suzy.duflo@chu-guadeloupe.fr

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• adult patients hospitalized at the Guadeloupe University Hospital for surgical treatment of thyroid pathology
• person affiliated to or beneficiaries of a social security system
• person with free, informed, and written consent signed by the participant and the investigator

Exclusion Criteria:

• patients subject to a judicial safeguard measure,
• patient under 18 years old
• patient without signed consent
• current pregnancy at the time of inclusion

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Other: Participants undergoing thyroid surgery; Participants undergoing thyroid surgery with prospective collection of blood, thyroid tissue, and adjacent adipose tissue samples for chlordecone concentration assessment and evaluation of exposure-related factors.	Other: Blood and thyroid tissue collection; Collection of blood, thyroid tissue, and adjacent adipose tissue samples during routine thyroid surgery for measurement of chlordecone concentration and assessment of exposure-related factors.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
chlordecone concentration in the adipose tissue adjacent to the thyroid	Chlordecone concentration measured in adipose tissue adjacent to the thyroid collected during thyroid surgery.	During surgery
Chlordecone concentration in blood	Chlordecone concentration measured in blood samples collected one day before surgery.	1 day before surgery

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Occupational exposure category	Occupational activity classified as high or low potential exposure to chlordecone based on professional activity collected through a self-administered questionnaire. Agricultural workers and livestock breeders will be classified as high exposure occupations	At inclusion
Residential environmental exposure assessment	Environmental exposure assessment based on residential history during the previous 10 years. Residential addresses reported for periods longer than 3 months will be geolocated and linked to soil contamination maps established by CIRAD.	At inclusion
Dietary exposure assessment	Dietary habits assessed using a self-administered questionnaire collecting information on food consumption patterns and food origin.	At inclusion

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de la Guadeloupe
• Collaborators: Institut Pasteur de Guadeloupe
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: suzy Duflo, MD PhD, CHU de la Guadeloupe

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): July 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): November 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 21, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 21, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): May 28, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 28, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 21, 2026
• Last Verified: May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: chlordecone; thyroid nodes; thyroid disruptor
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Endocrine System Diseases; Thyroid Diseases; Investigative Techniques; Specimen Handling; Clinical Laboratory Techniques; Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures; Diagnosis; Punctures; Surgical Procedures, Operative; Blood Specimen Collection
• Other Study ID Numbers: PAP_RIPH2_2025/08

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No