Toxins and Biliary Atresia: Is Karenia Brevis (Red Tide) The Culprit?

•Environmental toxins may cause biliary atresia.•Red tide is caused by overwhelming algal blooms (Karenia brevis).•Red tide is debilitating to marine wildlife.•Gestational exposure to K. brevis was not associated with biliary atresia. The study objective was to evaluate the association between Karenia brevis (K. brevis) exposure during pregnancy and the prevalence of biliary atresia (BA) in offspring. This was a hospital-based, case-control study in which cases were infants diagnosed with BA at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital from October 2001 to December 2019. Cases were matched 1:4 by age to controls who were randomly selected from a pool of healthy infants hospitalized during the study period for common pediatric diagnoses. Infants were excluded if they had congenital anomalies and/or were non-Florida residents. Gestational K. brevis exposure levels (cells/liter) were determined from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission exposure data at 10- and 50 mile radii from the mother's zip code of residence. Multivariable conditional logistic regression determined odds of BA in offspring in relation to maternal gestational K. brevis exposure adjusted for infant sex, race/ethnicity, coastal residence, and seasonality. Of 38 cases and 152 controls, no significant inter-group differences were observed for infant race/ethnicity, season of birth, or coastal residence. Median gestational exposure at the 10 mile radius was 0 cells/liter in both groups. A greater proportion of cases had no gestational K. brevis exposure (63.2 %, n = 24) in comparison to controls (37.5 %, n = 57; p = .04) at a 10 mile radius. At a 50 mile radius, cases had a peak median exposure at 6 months of gestation compared to controls’ peak at 9 months. After adjustment for sex, seasonality, race/ethnicity, and coastal residence, there was no significant association between BA and maximum K. brevis exposure per trimester of pregnancy observed at a 10- or 50 mile radius. In this matched case-control study, we observed no association between gestational K. brevis (cells/liter) exposure at a 10- or 50 mile radius from maternal zip code of residence and BA in offspring.