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Evaluation of sodium arsenite exposure on reproductive competence in pregnant and postlactational dams and their offspring. Reprod Toxicol 2017; 69:1-12. [DOI: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2017.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2016] [Revised: 12/07/2016] [Accepted: 01/04/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Thompson DS, Younger-Coleman N, Lyew-Ayee P, Greene LG, Boyne MS, Forrester TE. Socioeconomic factors associated with severe acute malnutrition in Jamaica. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0173101. [PMID: 28291805 PMCID: PMC5349655 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2016] [Accepted: 02/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is an important risk factor for illness and death globally, contributing to more than half of deaths in children worldwide. We hypothesized that SAM is positively correlated to poverty, low educational attainment, major crime and higher mean soil concentrations of lead, cadmium and arsenic. METHODS We reviewed admission records of infants admitted with a diagnosis of SAM over 14 years (2000-2013) in Jamaica. Poverty index, educational attainment, major crime and environmental heavy metal exposure were represented in a Geographic Information System (GIS). Cases of SAM were grouped by community and the number of cases per community/year correlated to socioeconomic variables and geochemistry data for the relevant year. RESULTS 375 cases of SAM were mapped across 204 urban and rural communities in Jamaica. The mean age at admission was 9 months (range 1-45 months) and 57% were male. SAM had a positive correlation with major crime (r = 0.53; P < 0.001), but not with educational attainment or the poverty index. For every one unit increase in the number of crimes reported, the rate of occurrence of SAM cases increased by 1.01% [Incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.01 (95% CI = 1.006-1.014); P P<0.001]. The geochemistry data yielded no correlation between levels of heavy metals and the prevalence of malnutrition. CONCLUSION Major crime has an independent positive association with severe acute malnutrition in Jamaican infants. This could suggest that SAM and major crime might have similar sociological origins or that criminality at the community level may be indicative of reduced income opportunities with the attendant increase in poor nutrition in the home.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debbie S. Thompson
- Tropical Medicine Research Institute, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica
- * E-mail:
| | - Novie Younger-Coleman
- Tropical Medicine Research Institute, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica
| | - Parris Lyew-Ayee
- Mona GeoInformatics Institute, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica
| | - Lisa-Gaye Greene
- Mona GeoInformatics Institute, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica
| | - Michael S. Boyne
- Tropical Medicine Research Institute, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica
| | - Terrence E. Forrester
- UWI Solutions for Developing Countries, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica
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Apata M, Arriaza B, Llop E, Moraga M. Human adaptation to arsenic in Andean populations of the Atacama Desert. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2017; 163:192-199. [PMID: 28206677 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2016] [Revised: 01/17/2017] [Accepted: 02/01/2017] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Quebrada Camarones, in the Atacama Desert, has the highest arsenic levels in the Americas (>1,000 µg/L). However, the Camarones people have subsisted in this adverse environment during the last 7,000 years and have not presented any epidemiological emergencies. Therefore, to solve this conundrum we compared the frequencies of four protective genetic variants of the AS3MT gene associated with efficient arsenic metabolization, between the living populations of Camarones and two other populations historically exposed to lower levels of arsenic. MATERIALS AND METHODS The Chilean selected population samples come from Quebrada Camarones (n = 50) and the Azapa Valley (n = 47) in the north and San Juan de la Costa (n = 45) in southern Chile. The genotyping was conducted using PCR-RFLP. We compared the genotypic and allelic frequencies, and estimated the haplotype frequencies in the AS3MT gene. RESULTS We found higher frequencies of the protective variants in those people from Camarones than in the other two populations. The haplotype estimation showed that the combination of protective variants of CTTA is very frequent in Camarones (68%) and Azapa (48%), but extremely low in San Juan de la Costa (8%). Also, the C variant associated with toxicity risks in the SNP Met287Thr had a lower frequency in Camarones (1%) and is higher in the other populations. DISCUSSION The higher frequency of protective variants in both northern Chilean populations indicates a long exposure to naturally arsenic-contaminated water sources. Our data suggest that a high arsenic metabolization capacity has been selected as an adaptive mechanism in these populations in order to survive in an arsenic-laden environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario Apata
- Programa de Genética Humana, ICBM, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Bernado Arriaza
- Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile
| | - Elena Llop
- Programa de Genética Humana, ICBM, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Mauricio Moraga
- Programa de Genética Humana, ICBM, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.,Departamento de Antropología, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
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Bonaventura MM, Bourguignon NS, Bizzozzero M, Rodriguez D, Ventura C, Cocca C, Libertun C, Lux-Lantos VA. Arsenite in drinking water produces glucose intolerance in pregnant rats and their female offspring. Food Chem Toxicol 2017; 100:207-216. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2016.12.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2016] [Revised: 12/15/2016] [Accepted: 12/20/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Abstract
Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: The relationship between arsenic and birth weight is not well understood. The objective was to evaluate the causal relationship between prenatal arsenic exposure and birth weight considering the potential mediation effects of gestational age and maternal weight gain during pregnancy using structural equation models. Methods: A prospectively enrolled cohort of pregnant women was recruited in Bangladesh from 2008 to 2011. Arsenic was measured in personal drinking water at the time of enrollment (gestational age <16 weeks, N = 1,140) and in toenails collected ≤1 month postpartum (N = 624) using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Structural equation models estimated the direct and indirect effects of arsenic on birth weight with gestational age and maternal weight gain considered as mediating variables. Results: Every unit increase in natural log water arsenic was indirectly associated with decreased birth weight (β = −19.17 g, 95% confidence interval [CI]: −24.64, −13.69) after adjusting for other risk factors. This association was mediated entirely through gestational age (β = −17.37 g, 95% CI: −22.77, −11.98) and maternal weight gain during pregnancy (β = −1.80 g, 95% CI: −3.72, 0.13). When exposure was modeled using toenail arsenic concentrations, similar results were observed. Every increase in natural log toenail arsenic was indirectly associated with decreased birth weight (β = −15.72 g, 95% CI: −24.52, −6.91) which was mediated through gestational age (β = −13.59 g, 95% CI: −22.10, −5.07) and maternal weight gain during pregnancy (β = −2.13 g, 95% CI: −5.24, 0.96). Conclusion: Arsenic exposure during pregnancy was associated with lower birth weight. The effect of arsenic on birth weight appears to be mediated mainly through decreasing gestational age and to a lesser extent by lower maternal weight gain during pregnancy.
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Röllin HB, Channa K, Olutola BG, Odland JØ. Evaluation of in utero exposure to arsenic in South Africa. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2017; 575:338-346. [PMID: 27744161 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.10.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2016] [Revised: 10/05/2016] [Accepted: 10/06/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Early life exposure to inorganic arsenic (iAs) has been shown to interfere with foetal and early childhood development, and is associated with morbidity and mortality in adulthood. The purpose of this study was to evaluate exposure to As in utero, to determine the association between maternal and cord blood of As and birth outcomes in South African populations. Total arsenic was measured in maternal blood of a total cohort (n=650) and in paired cord blood and urine of a subset cohort (n=317). Overall, the geometric mean (GM) of As in maternal blood was 0.62μg/L (n=650; 95% CI, 0.58-0.66). In the subset cohort, the GM of maternal blood As was 0.96μg/L (n=350; 95% CI, 0.91-1.02); in paired cord blood, the GM was 0.78μg/L (n=317; 95% CI, 0.74-0.83); and in urine (creatinine-corrected), the GM was 14.26μg/g creatinine (n=317; 95% CI, 12.64-16.09). A linear correlation was found between log maternal blood As and log cord blood As (rho=0.80, p<0.001). Birth outcomes showed geographical differences. in gestational age (p<0.001), birth length (p=0.019), head circumference (p<0.001), Apgar score at 5min (p<0.001) and parity (p<0.002). In a multivariate analysis, no association between maternal blood (AsB) levels and birth outcomes were found. However, the lower the gestational age, the higher the levels of maternal AsB (β=-0.054; 95% CI-0.087 to -0.020) and mothers who had had at least one child were less likely to have higher AsB if compared to those who had never had any child (β=-0.177; 95CI-0.322 to 0.031). In both univariate and multivariate analyses, being single, and drinking water from communal outdoor taps, boreholes and rivers was associated with higher As levels. The findings suggest that more research is needed to evaluate the impact of low level As exposure on postnatal development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Halina B Röllin
- School of Health Systems and Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa; Environment and Health Research Unit, Medical Research Council, Johannesburg, South Africa.
| | - Kalavati Channa
- Lancet Laboratories, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Bukola G Olutola
- School of Health Systems and Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Jon Ø Odland
- School of Health Systems and Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa; Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway
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Li H, Wang M, Liang Q, Jin S, Sun X, Jiang Y, Pan X, Zhou Y, Peng Y, Zhang B, Zhou A, Zhang Y, Chen Z, Cao J, Zhang H, Xia W, Zheng T, Cai Z, Li Y, Xu S. Urinary metabolomics revealed arsenic exposure related to metabolic alterations in general Chinese pregnant women. J Chromatogr A 2017; 1479:145-152. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2016.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2016] [Revised: 08/16/2016] [Accepted: 12/03/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Saha S, Rashid K, Sadhukhan P, Agarwal N, Sil PC. Attenuative role of mangiferin in oxidative stress-mediated liver dysfunction in arsenic-intoxicated murines. Biofactors 2016; 42:515-532. [PMID: 27018134 DOI: 10.1002/biof.1276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2015] [Revised: 02/16/2016] [Accepted: 02/19/2016] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Mangiferin (MAG), a natural xanthone mainly derived from mangoes, possesses great antioxidative potentials. The present study has been carried out to investigate the hepato-protective role of MAG, against arsenic (As)-induced oxidative damages in the murine liver. As, a well-known toxic metalloid, is ubiquitously found in nature and has been reported to affect nearly all the organs of the human body via oxidative impairment. Administration of As in the form of sodium arsenite (NaAsO2 ) at a dose of 10 mg/kg body weight for 3 months abruptly increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, led to oxidative stress and significantly depleted the first line of antioxidant defense system in the body. Moreover, As caused apoptosis in hepatocytes. Treatment with MAG at a dose of 40 mg/kg for body weight for 30 days simultaneously and separately after NaAsO2 administration decreased the ROS production and attenuated the alterations in the activities of all antioxidant indices. MAG also protected liver against the NaAsO2 -induced apoptosis and disintegrated hepatocytes, thus counteracting with As-induced toxicity. It could significantly inhibit the expression of different proapoptotic caspases and upregulate the expression of survival molecules such as Akt and Nrf2. On inhibiting Akt (by PI3K inhibitor, LY294002) and ERK1/2 (by ERK1/2 inhibitor, PD98059) specifically, caspase 3 got activated abolishing mangiferin's protective role on As-induced hepatotoxicity. So here, we have briefly elucidated the signaling cascades involved in As-induced apoptotic cell death in the liver and also the detailed cellular mechanism by which MAG provides protection to this organ. © 2016 BioFactors, 42(5):515-532, 2016.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sukanya Saha
- Division of Molecular Medicine, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India
| | | | | | - Namrata Agarwal
- Division of Molecular Medicine, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India
| | - Parames C Sil
- Division of Molecular Medicine, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India.
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Au F, Bielecki A, Blais E, Fisher M, Cakmak S, Basak A, Gomes J, Arbuckle TE, Fraser WD, Vincent R, Kumarathasan P. Blood metal levels and third trimester maternal plasma matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). CHEMOSPHERE 2016; 159:506-515. [PMID: 27341154 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2015] [Revised: 05/10/2016] [Accepted: 06/02/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
While it is known that in utero exposure to environmental toxicants, namely heavy metals, can adversely affect the neonate, there remains a significant paucity of information on maternal biological changes specific to metal exposures during pregnancy. This study aims at identifying associations between maternal metal exposures and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) that are known to be engaged in pregnancy process. Third trimester maternal plasma (n = 1533) from a pregnancy cohort (Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals Study, MIREC) were analyzed for MMP-1,-2,-7,-9 and -10 by affinity-based multiplex protein array analyses. Maternal metal concentrations (mercury, cadmium, lead, arsenic and manganese) in 1st and 3rd trimesters exhibited strong correlations (p < 0.05). Multivariate regression models were used to estimate odds ratio (OR) for the association between metal concentrations in quartiles and high (90%) and low (10%) maternal MMP levels. Significant (p < 0.05) metal exposure-related effects were observed with the different MMP isoform responses. MMP profiles were specific to the trimester at which the maternal blood metals were analyzed. Our findings suggest that the profiles of these MMP isoforms vary with the type of metal exposure, blood metal concentrations and the trimester at which metal levels were determined. These new findings on maternal metal-MMP relationships can guide future explorations on toxicity mechanisms relevant to metal exposure-mediated adverse birth outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felicia Au
- Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Science, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Agnieszka Bielecki
- Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Erica Blais
- Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Mandy Fisher
- Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Sabit Cakmak
- Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Ajoy Basak
- Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Science, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - James Gomes
- Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Science, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Tye E Arbuckle
- Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | | | - Renaud Vincent
- Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Prem Kumarathasan
- Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Science, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
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Gilbert-Diamond D, Emond JA, Baker ER, Korrick SA, Karagas MR. Relation between in Utero Arsenic Exposure and Birth Outcomes in a Cohort of Mothers and Their Newborns from New Hampshire. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2016; 124:1299-307. [PMID: 26955061 PMCID: PMC4977046 DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1510065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2015] [Revised: 08/25/2015] [Accepted: 02/12/2016] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Studies suggest that arsenic exposure influences birth outcomes; however, findings are mixed. OBJECTIVE We assessed in utero arsenic exposure in relation to birth outcomes and whether maternal prepregnancy weight and infant sex modified the associations. METHODS Among 706 mother-infant pairs exposed to low levels of arsenic through drinking water and diet, we assessed in utero arsenic exposure using maternal second-trimester urinary arsenic, maternal prepregnancy weight through self-report, and birth outcomes from medical records. RESULTS Median (interquartile range) of total urinary arsenic [tAs; inorganic arsenic (iAs) + monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) + dimethylarsinic acid (DMA)] was 3.4 μg/L (1.7-6.0). In adjusted linear models, each doubling of tAs was associated with a 0.10-cm decrease (95% CI: -0.19, -0.01) in head circumference. Results were similar for MMA and DMA. Ln(tAs) and ln(DMA) were positively associated with birth length in infant males only; among males, each doubling of tAs was associated with a 0.28-cm increase (95% CI: 0.09, 0.46) in birth length (pinteraction = 0.04). Results were similar for DMA. Additionally, arsenic exposure was inversely related to ponderal index, and associations differed by maternal weight. Each ln(tAs) doubling of tAs was associated with a 0.55-kg/m3 lower (95% CI: -0.82, -0.28, p < 0.001) ponderal index for infants of overweight/obese, but not normal-weight, mothers (pinteraction < 0.01). Finally, there was a significant interaction between maternal weight status, infant sex, and arsenic exposure on birth weight (pinteraction = 0.03). In girls born of overweight/obese mothers, each doubling of tAs was associated with a 62.9-g decrease (95% CI: -111.6, -14.2) in birth weight, though the association was null in the other strata. CONCLUSIONS Low-level arsenic exposure may affect fetal growth, and the associations may be modified by maternal weight status and infant sex. CITATION Gilbert-Diamond D, Emond JA, Baker ER, Korrick SA, Karagas MR. 2016. Relation between in utero arsenic exposure and birth outcomes in a cohort of mothers and their newborns from New Hampshire. Environ Health Perspect 124:1299-1307; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510065.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diane Gilbert-Diamond
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
- Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Jennifer A. Emond
- Department of Biomedical Data Science, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Emily R. Baker
- Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Susan A. Korrick
- Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Margaret R. Karagas
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
- Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
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Henn BC, Ettinger AS, Hopkins MR, Jim R, Amarasiriwardena C, Christiani DC, Coull BA, Bellinger DC, Wright RO. Prenatal Arsenic Exposure and Birth Outcomes among a Population Residing near a Mining-Related Superfund Site. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2016; 124:1308-15. [PMID: 26859631 PMCID: PMC4977047 DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1510070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2015] [Revised: 08/05/2015] [Accepted: 01/19/2016] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Limited epidemiologic data exist on prenatal arsenic exposure and fetal growth, particularly in the context of co-exposure to other toxic metals. OBJECTIVE We examined whether prenatal arsenic exposure predicts birth outcomes among a rural U.S. population, while adjusting for exposure to lead and manganese. METHODS We collected maternal and umbilical cord blood samples at delivery from 622 mother-infant pairs residing near a mining-related Superfund site in Northeast Oklahoma. Whole blood arsenic, lead, and manganese were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. We modeled associations between arsenic concentrations and birth weight, gestational age, head circumference, and birth weight for gestational age. RESULTS Median (25th-75th percentile) maternal and umbilical cord blood metal concentrations, respectively, were as follows: arsenic, 1.4 (1.0-2.3) and 2.4 (1.8-3.3) μg/L; lead, 0.6 (0.4-0.9) and 0.4 (0.3-0.6) μg/dL; manganese, 22.7 (18.8-29.3) and 41.7 (32.2-50.4) μg/L. We estimated negative associations between maternal blood arsenic concentrations and birth outcomes. In multivariable regression models adjusted for lead and manganese, an interquartile range increase in maternal blood arsenic was associated with -77.5 g (95% CI: -127.8, -27.3) birth weight, -0.13 weeks (95% CI: -0.27, 0.01) gestation, -0.22 cm (95% CI: -0.42, -0.03) head circumference, and -0.14 (95% CI: -0.24, -0.04) birth weight for gestational age z-score units. Interactions between arsenic concentrations and lead or manganese were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS In a population with environmental exposure levels similar to the U.S. general population, maternal blood arsenic was negatively associated with fetal growth. Given the potential for relatively common fetal and early childhood arsenic exposures, our finding that prenatal arsenic can adversely affect birth outcomes is of considerable public health importance. CITATION Claus Henn B, Ettinger AS, Hopkins MR, Jim R, Amarasiriwardena C, Christiani DC, Coull BA, Bellinger DC, Wright RO. 2016. Prenatal arsenic exposure and birth outcomes among a population residing near a mining-related Superfund site. Environ Health Perspect 124:1308-1315; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510070.
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Affiliation(s)
- Birgit Claus Henn
- Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Address correspondence to B. Claus Henn, Boston University School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health, 715 Albany St., Boston, MA 02118 USA. Telephone: (617) 638-4653.
| | - Adrienne S. Ettinger
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Marianne R. Hopkins
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Rebecca Jim
- Local Environmental Action Demanded (L.E.A.D.) Agency, Inc., Vinita, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Chitra Amarasiriwardena
- Division of Environmental Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - David C. Christiani
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Brent A. Coull
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - David C. Bellinger
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Neurology, and
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Robert O. Wright
- Division of Environmental Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
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Farzan SF, Li Z, Korrick SA, Spiegelman D, Enelow R, Nadeau K, Baker E, Karagas MR. Infant Infections and Respiratory Symptoms in Relation to in Utero Arsenic Exposure in a U.S. Cohort. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2016; 124:840-7. [PMID: 26359651 PMCID: PMC4892909 DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1409282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2014] [Accepted: 09/04/2015] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Arsenic has been linked to disrupted immune function and greater infection susceptibility in highly exposed populations. Well arsenic levels above the U.S. EPA limit occur in our U.S. study area and are of particular concern for pregnant women and infants. OBJECTIVES We investigated whether in utero arsenic exposure affects the risk of infections and respiratory symptoms over the first year of life. METHODS We prospectively obtained information on infant infections and symptoms, including their duration and treatment (n = 412) at 4, 8, and 12 months using a parental telephone survey. Using generalized estimating equation models adjusted for potential confounders, we evaluated the association between maternal pregnancy urinary arsenic and infant infections and symptoms over the first year. RESULTS Each doubling of maternal urinary arsenic was related to increases in the total number of infections requiring prescription medication in the first year [relative risk (RR) = 1.1; 95% CI: 1.0, 1.2]. Urinary arsenic was related specifically to respiratory symptoms (difficulty breathing, wheezing, and cough) lasting ≥ 2 days or requiring prescription medication (RR = 1.1; 95% CI: 1.0, 1.2; and RR = 1.2; 95% CI: 1.0, 1.5, respectively), and wheezing lasting ≥ 2 days, resulting in a doctor visit or prescription medication treatment (RR = 1.3; 95% CI: 1.0, 1.7; RR = 1.3; 95% CI: 1.0, 1.8, and RR = 1.5; 95% CI: 1.0, 2.2, respectively). Associations also were observed with diarrhea (RR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.1, 1.9) and fever resulting in a doctor visit (RR = 1.2; 95% CI: 1.0, 1.5). CONCLUSIONS In utero arsenic exposure was associated with a higher risk of infection during the first year of life in our study population, particularly infections requiring medical treatment, and with diarrhea and respiratory symptoms. CITATION Farzan SF, Li Z, Korrick SA, Spiegelman D, Enelow R, Nadeau K, Baker E, Karagas MR. 2016. Infant infections and respiratory symptoms in relation to in utero arsenic exposure in a U.S. COHORT Environ Health Perspect 124:840-847; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1409282.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shohreh F. Farzan
- Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Center at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Zhigang Li
- Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Center at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Susan A. Korrick
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Donna Spiegelman
- Department of Biostatistics, and
- Department of Epidemiology, Global Health and Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Richard Enelow
- Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Center at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Kari Nadeau
- Division of Immunology and Allergy, Stanford Medical School and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Emily Baker
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Margaret R. Karagas
- Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Center at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA
- Address correspondence to M.R. Karagas, Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine, One Medical Center Dr., 7927 Rubin, Lebanon, NH 03756 USA. Telephone: (603) 653-9010. E-mail:
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Romano ME, Enquobahrie DA, Simpson C, Checkoway H, Williams MA. Maternal body burden of cadmium and offspring size at birth. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2016; 147:461-8. [PMID: 26970900 PMCID: PMC4866807 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2016.02.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2015] [Revised: 02/21/2016] [Accepted: 02/22/2016] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Increasing evidence suggests an inverse association between cadmium (Cd) and size at birth, potentially greatest among female neonates. We evaluated whether greater maternal body burden of Cd is associated with reduced neonatal anthropometry (birthweight, birth length, head circumference, and ponderal index) and assessed whether these associations differ by infant sex. The analytic sample for the present study (n=396) was derived from a subcohort of 750 women randomly drawn from among all participants (N=4344) in the Omega Study, a prospective pregnancy cohort. Creatinine-corrected Cd in maternal clean-catch spot urine samples (U-Cd) was quantified by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Continuous log2-transformed Cd (log2-Cd) and U-Cd tertiles (low<0.29μg/g creatinine, middle 0.29-0.42μg/g creatinine, high≥0.43μg/g creatinine) were used in multivariable linear regression models. Females had reduced birth length with greater U-Cd tertile, whereas males birth length marginally increased [β(95% CI) females: low=reference, middle=-0.59cm (-1.37, 0.19), high=-0.83cm (-1.69, 0.02), p-trend=0.08; males: low=reference, middle=0.18cm (-0.59, 0.95), high=0.78cm (-0.04, 1.60), p-trend=0.07; p for interaction=0.03]. The log2-Cd by infant sex interaction was statistically significant for ponderal index [p=0.003; β(95% CI): female=0.25kg/m(3) (-0.20, 0.70); male=-0.63kg/m(3) (-1.01, -0.24)] and birth length [p<0.001; β(95% CI): female=-0.47cm (-0.74, -0.20), male=0.32cm (0.00, 0.65)]. Our findings suggest potential sex-specific reversal of Cd's associations on birth length and contribute to the evidence suggesting Cd impairs fetal growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan E Romano
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA.
| | - Daniel A Enquobahrie
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Center for Perinatal Studies, Swedish Medical Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Christopher Simpson
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Harvey Checkoway
- Department of Family Medicine & Public Health, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Michelle A Williams
- Center for Perinatal Studies, Swedish Medical Center, Seattle, WA, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
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Andersen ZJ, Sram RJ, Ščasný M, Gurzau ES, Fucic A, Gribaldo L, Rossner P, Rossnerova A, Kohlová MB, Máca V, Zvěřinová I, Gajdosova D, Moshammer H, Rudnai P, Knudsen LE. Newborns health in the Danube Region: Environment, biomonitoring, interventions and economic benefits in a large prospective birth cohort study. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2016; 88:112-122. [PMID: 26735349 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2015.12.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2015] [Revised: 12/07/2015] [Accepted: 12/10/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The EU strategy for the Danube Region addresses numerous challenges including environment, health and socioeconomic disparities. Many old environmental burdens and heavily polluted areas in Europe are located in the Danube Region, consisting of 14 countries, with over 100 million people. Estimating the burden of environmental exposures on early-life health is a growing research area in Europe which has major public health implications, but the data from the Danube Region are largely missing. AIM This review presents an inventory of current environmental challenges, related early-life health risks, and knowledge gaps in the Danube Region, based on publicly available databases, registers, and literature, as a rationale and incentive for a new integrated project. The review also proposes the concept for the project aiming to characterize in utero exposures to multiple environmental factors and estimate their effect on early-life health, evaluate economic impact, as well as identify interventions with a potential to harness social norms to reduce emissions, exposures and health risks in the Danube Region. METHODS Experts in environmental epidemiology, human biomonitoring and social science in collaboration with clinicians propose to establish a new large multi-center birth cohort of mother-child pairs from Danube countries, measure biomarkers of exposure and health in biological samples at birth, collect centrally measured climate, air and water pollution data, conduct pre- and postnatal surveys on lifestyle, indoor exposures, noise, occupation, socio-economic status, risk-averting behavior, and preferences; and undertake clinical examinations of children at and after birth. Birth cohort will include at least 2000 newborns per site, and a subset of at least 200 mother-child pairs per site for biomonitoring. Novel biomarkers of exposure, susceptibility, and effect will be applied, to gain better mechanistic insight. Effects of multiple environmental exposures on fetal and child growth, respiratory, allergic, immunologic, and neurodevelopmental health outcomes will be estimated. Parent's willingness to pay for reducing health risks in children will be elicited by survey, while values of cost-of-illness will be gathered from literature and national statistics. Effects of risk reducing interventions will be examined. CONCLUSIONS The proposed project would provide novel estimates of the burden of early childhood diseases attributable to environmental exposures and assess health impacts of different intervention scenarios in the Danube Region, in an integrated approach combining human biomonitoring, epidemiological and social science research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zorana J Andersen
- Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, 1014 Copenhagen, Denmark.
| | - Radim J Sram
- Institute of Experimental Medicine, AS CR Videnska 1083, 142 20 Prague 4, Czech Republic.
| | - Milan Ščasný
- Charles University in Prague, Environment Center, Jose Martiho 2, 162 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic.
| | - Eugen S Gurzau
- The Environmental Health Center, Busuiocului 58, 400240 Cluj Napoca, Romania.
| | - Aleksandra Fucic
- Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Ksaverska c 2, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
| | - Laura Gribaldo
- EC DG Joint Research Centre, Institute for Health and Consumer Protection, TP 260, Via E. Fermi, 2749 21027 Ispra, Italy.
| | - Pavel Rossner
- Institute of Experimental Medicine, AS CR Videnska 1083, 142 20 Prague 4, Czech Republic.
| | - Andrea Rossnerova
- Institute of Experimental Medicine, AS CR Videnska 1083, 142 20 Prague 4, Czech Republic.
| | - Markéta Braun Kohlová
- Charles University in Prague, Environment Center, Jose Martiho 2, 162 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic.
| | - Vojtěch Máca
- Charles University in Prague, Environment Center, Jose Martiho 2, 162 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic.
| | - Iva Zvěřinová
- Charles University in Prague, Environment Center, Jose Martiho 2, 162 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic.
| | - Dagmar Gajdosova
- Regional Public Health Authority, Ipelska 1, 040 11 Kosice, Slovak Republic.
| | - Hanns Moshammer
- Institut Umwelt-Hygiene, Medical University of Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Peter Rudnai
- National Center for Public Health, Budapest, Hungary.
| | - Lisbeth E Knudsen
- Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, 1014 Copenhagen, Denmark.
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Xia W, Zhou Y, Zheng T, Zhang B, Bassig BA, Li Y, Wise JP, Zhou A, Wan Y, Wang Y, Xiong C, Zhao J, Li Z, Yao Y, Hu J, Pan X, Xu S. Maternal urinary manganese and risk of low birth weight: a case-control study. BMC Public Health 2016; 16:142. [PMID: 26869268 PMCID: PMC4751650 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-016-2816-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2015] [Accepted: 02/03/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Manganese (Mn) is an essential element for humans, but exposure to high levels has been associated with adverse developmental outcomes. Early epidemiological studies evaluating the effect of Mn on fetal growth are inconsistent. METHODS We investigated the association between maternal urinary Mn during pregnancy and the risk of low birth weight (LBW). Mn concentrations in maternal urine samples collected before delivery were measured in 816 subjects (204 LBW cases and 612 matched controls) recruited between 2012 and 2014 in Hubei Province, China. RESULTS The median Mn concentration in maternal urine was 0.69 μg/g creatinine. Compared to the medium tertile of Mn levels, an increased risk of LBW was observed for the lowest tertile (≤0.30 μg/g creatinine) [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.28; 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 0.67, 2.45], and a significantly increased risk of LBW was observed for the highest tertile (≥1.16 μg/g creatinine) [adjusted OR = 2.04; 95 % CI = 1.12, 3.72]. A curvilinear relationship between maternal urinary Mn and risk of LBW was observed, showing that the concentration at 0.43 μg/g creatinine was the point of inflection. Similar associations were observed among the mothers with female infants and among the younger mothers < 28 years old. However, among the mothers with male infants or the older mothers ≥ 28 years old, only higher levels of Mn were positively associated with LBW. CONCLUSIONS Lower or higher levels of maternal urinary Mn are associated with LBW, though only the association of LBW risk and higher levels of Mn was statistically significant. The findings also show that the associations may vary by maternal age and infant sex, but require confirmation in other populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Xia
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health (HUST), Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubation), school of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
| | - Yanqiu Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health (HUST), Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubation), school of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Tongzhang Zheng
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Brown School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Bin Zhang
- Women and Children Medical and Healthcare Center of Wuhan, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Bryan A Bassig
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Yuanyuan Li
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health (HUST), Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubation), school of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - John Pierce Wise
- Wise Laboratory of Environmental and Genetic Toxicology, Portland, ME, USA
| | - Aifen Zhou
- Women and Children Medical and Healthcare Center of Wuhan, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Yanjian Wan
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health (HUST), Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubation), school of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Youjie Wang
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health (HUST), Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubation), school of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Chao Xiong
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health (HUST), Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubation), school of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China.,Women and Children Medical and Healthcare Center of Wuhan, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Jinzhu Zhao
- Women and Children Medical and Healthcare Center of Wuhan, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhengkuan Li
- Macheng Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Macheng, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuanxiang Yao
- Ezhou Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Ezhou, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Jie Hu
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health (HUST), Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubation), school of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Xinyun Pan
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health (HUST), Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubation), school of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Shunqing Xu
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health (HUST), Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubation), school of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
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Xia W, Hu J, Zhang B, Li Y, Wise JP, Bassig BA, Zhou A, Savitz DA, Xiong C, Zhao J, du X, Zhou Y, Pan X, Yang J, Wu C, Jiang M, Peng Y, Qian Z, Zheng T, Xu S. A case-control study of maternal exposure to chromium and infant low birth weight in China. CHEMOSPHERE 2016; 144:1484-9. [PMID: 26498095 PMCID: PMC5101184 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2015.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2015] [Revised: 09/21/2015] [Accepted: 10/01/2015] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to chromium is increasing due to environmental pollution from industrial processes. Several epidemiological studies have investigated chromium exposure and reproductive outcomes, but few studies have investigated the association of chromium exposure and low birth weight (LBW). This study was designed to investigate whether maternal exposure to chromium during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of LBW. Chromium concentrations in maternal urine samples collected at delivery were measured in 204 LBW cases and 612 matched controls recruited between 2012 and 2014 in Hubei Province, China. Risk of LBW was associated with higher levels of chromium in maternal urine [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.77 for the medium tertile, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.95, 3.29; adjusted OR = 2.48 for the highest tertile, 95% CI: 1.33, 4.61; P trend = 0.01]. The association was more pronounced among female infants (adjusted OR = 3.67 for the highest tertile, 95% CI: 1.50, 8.97) than among male infants (adjusted OR = 1.22 for the highest tertile, 95% CI = 0.48, 3.11) (p heterogeneity = 0.06). Our findings suggest that maternal exposure to higher levels of chromium during pregnancy may potentially increase the risk of delivering LBW infants, particularly for female infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Xia
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Jie Hu
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Bin Zhang
- Wuhan Medical and Health Center for Women and Children, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Yuanyuan Li
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - John Pierce Wise
- Wise Laboratory of Environmental and Genetic Toxicology, Portland, ME, USA
| | - Bryan A Bassig
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Aifen Zhou
- Wuhan Medical and Health Center for Women and Children, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - David A Savitz
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown Universtiy, Providence, RI 02903, USA
| | - Chao Xiong
- Wuhan Medical and Health Center for Women and Children, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Jinzhu Zhao
- Wuhan Medical and Health Center for Women and Children, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Xiaofu du
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Yanqiu Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Xinyun Pan
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Jie Yang
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Chuansha Wu
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Minmin Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Yang Peng
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Zhengmin Qian
- Department of Epidemiology, College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Tongzhang Zheng
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown Universtiy, Providence, RI 02903, USA.
| | - Shunqing Xu
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China.
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Roy P, Mukherjee A, Giri S. Evaluation of genetic damage in tobacco and arsenic exposed population of Southern Assam, India using buccal cytome assay and comet assay. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2016; 124:169-176. [PMID: 26517729 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2015.10.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2015] [Revised: 10/13/2015] [Accepted: 10/15/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Ground water is the principal source of drinking water in Assam. Ground water contamination of arsenic in drinking water is a great concern for human health and considered as a human carcinogen. The present cytogenetic biomonitoring study was undertaken to investigate the genotoxic effects associated with people of southern Assam consuming arsenic contaminated water and chewing tobacco. Employing the buccal cytome assay, exfoliated cells were analyzed in 138 individuals of age range 22-42 years and divided into four groups. Group I (n=54) are participants residing in localities where ground water contains arsenic concentration below the permissible limit (<10μg/l) and without any tobacco chewing history. Group II (n=32) participants from the same area but they are tobacco chewers. Group III (n=24) participants from localities where significantly high arsenic contamination in ground water were observed. Whereas the Group IV (n=28) consists of participants from the arsenic contaminated area and also tobacco chewers. Body mass index (BMI) in all the groups are found to be nearly same and in normal range. Statistically significant (P<0.001) increase in genotoxic, cell death parameters and cell proliferation biomarkers were observed in the Group IV compared to other groups. In the comet assay, percent of tail DNA gradually increases among the groups and has statistical significance. Spearman correlation revealed strong positive correlation between the arsenic exposed peoples and the binucleated cells (r=0.4763; P<0.001). Amount of chewing tobacco had significant positive correlation with micronucleus frequency (r=0.268; P<0.05) and karyolitic cells (r=0.217; P<0.05) and also in the percentage of tail DNA (r=0.5532, P<0.001). A statistically significant increase in glucose content and decrease in hemoglobin content as well as acetylcholine esterase in the blood of exposed individuals was observed. Our preliminary study indicate that population exposed to arsenic through drinking water may become more susceptible towards chewing tobacco induced nuclear damage as evaluated by buccal cytome assay and comet assay.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prasenjit Roy
- Laboratory of Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Health, Department of Life Science and Bioinformatics, Assam University, Silchar 788011, Assam, India.
| | - Anita Mukherjee
- Laboratory of Cell Biology and Genetic Toxicology, Department of Genetics, Ballygunge Science College, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India
| | - Sarbani Giri
- Laboratory of Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Health, Department of Life Science and Bioinformatics, Assam University, Silchar 788011, Assam, India
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Bloom MS, Neamtiu IA, Surdu S, Pop C, Anastasiu D, Appleton AA, Fitzgerald EF, Gurzau ES. Low level arsenic contaminated water consumption and birth outcomes in Romania-An exploratory study. Reprod Toxicol 2016; 59:8-16. [PMID: 26518419 PMCID: PMC4783180 DOI: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2015.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2015] [Revised: 10/02/2015] [Accepted: 10/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Women are exposed to drinking water with low arsenic concentrations (<10.0μg/L) worldwide, yet little work has been done to assess the risk. To begin to address this data gap, we conducted an exploratory study of birth outcomes in Timis County, Romania. We prospectively followed 122 women with singleton deliveries, for whom we constructed individual exposure indicators using self-reported water consumption weighted by arsenic measured in drinking water sources. There were no overall confounder-adjusted effects for arsenic exposure on birth outcomes. Yet, higher average arsenic (10μg/L) was associated with a -2.45 lower birth weight Z-score (P=0.021) and a -1.17 shorter birth length Z-score (P=0.029) among smokers. Higher average iAs (10μg/L) was also associated with smaller ponderal index in boys (P=0.023). Our results suggest smoking may potentiate an otherwise benign arsenic exposure. A larger, more definitive biomarker-based study is needed to investigate the potential risks in conjunction with smoking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael S Bloom
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, NY, USA; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, NY, USA.
| | | | - Simona Surdu
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, NY, USA
| | - Cristian Pop
- Environmental Health Center, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Doru Anastasiu
- University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Victor Babes", Timisoara, Romania; Gynecology Department of the Emergency County Hospital, Timisoara, Romania
| | - Allison A Appleton
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, NY, USA
| | - Edward F Fitzgerald
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, NY, USA; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, NY, USA
| | - Eugen S Gurzau
- Environmental Health Center, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Iuliu Hatieganu", Cluj-Napoca, Romania
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Bain LJ, Liu JT, League RE. Arsenic inhibits stem cell differentiation by altering the interplay between the Wnt3a and Notch signaling pathways. Toxicol Rep 2016; 3:405-413. [PMID: 27158593 PMCID: PMC4855706 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2016.03.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
data indicates that arsenic exposure inhibits stem cell differentiation. This study investigated whether arsenic disrupted the Wnt3a signaling pathway, critical in the formation of myotubes and neurons, during the differentiation in P19 mouse embryonic stem cells. Cells were exposed to 0, 0.1, or 0.5 μM arsenite, with or without exogenous Wnt3a, for up to 9 days of differentiation. Arsenic exposure alone inhibits the differentiation of stem cells into neurons and skeletal myotubes, and reduces the expression of both β-catenin and GSK3β mRNA to ~55% of control levels. Co-culture of the arsenic-exposed cells with exogenous Wnt3a rescues the morphological phenotype, but does not alter transcript, protein, or phosphorylation status of GSK3β or β-catenin. However, arsenic exposure maintains high levels of Hes5 and decreases the expression of MASH1 by 2.2-fold, which are anti- and pro-myogenic and neurogenic genes, respectively, in the Notch signaling pathway. While rescue with exogenous Wnt3a reduced Hes5 levels, MASH1 levels stay repressed. Thus, while Wnt3a can partially rescue the inhibition of differentiation from arsenic, it does so by also modulating Notch target genes rather than only working through the canonical Wnt signaling pathway. These results indicate that arsenic alters the interplay between multiple signaling pathways, leading to reduced stem cell differentiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa J Bain
- Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program, Clemson University, 132 Long Hall, Clemson, SC 29634, USA; Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, 132 Long Hall, Clemson, SC 23964, USA
| | - Jui-Tung Liu
- Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program, Clemson University, 132 Long Hall, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
| | - Ryan E League
- Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program, Clemson University, 132 Long Hall, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
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Zheng T, Zhang J, Sommer K, Bassig BA, Zhang X, Braun J, Xu S, Boyle P, Zhang B, Shi K, Buka S, Liu S, Li Y, Qian Z, Dai M, Romano M, Zou A, Kelsey K. Effects of Environmental Exposures on Fetal and Childhood Growth Trajectories. Ann Glob Health 2016; 82:41-99. [PMID: 27325067 PMCID: PMC5967632 DOI: 10.1016/j.aogh.2016.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Delayed fetal growth and adverse birth outcomes are some of the greatest public health threats to this generation of children worldwide because these conditions are major determinants of mortality, morbidity, and disability in infancy and childhood and are also associated with diseases in adult life. A number of studies have investigated the impacts of a range of environmental conditions during pregnancy (including air pollution, endocrine disruptors, persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals) on fetal and child development. The results, while provocative, have been largely inconsistent. This review summarizes up to date epidemiologic studies linking major environmental pollutants to fetal and child development and suggested future directions for further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tongzhang Zheng
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown School of Public Health, Providence, RI.
| | - Jie Zhang
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown School of Public Health, Providence, RI
| | | | - Bryan A Bassig
- National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Bethesda, MD
| | - Xichi Zhang
- George Washington University, Washington, DC
| | - Jospeh Braun
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown School of Public Health, Providence, RI
| | - Shuangqing Xu
- Tongji School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, P.R. China
| | - Peter Boyle
- International Prevention Research Institute, Lyon, France
| | - Bin Zhang
- Wuhan Medical & Health Center for Women and Children, Wuhan, Hubei, P.R. China
| | - Kunchong Shi
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown School of Public Health, Providence, RI
| | - Stephen Buka
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown School of Public Health, Providence, RI
| | - Siming Liu
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown School of Public Health, Providence, RI
| | - Yuanyuan Li
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown School of Public Health, Providence, RI; Tongji School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, P.R. China
| | - Zengmin Qian
- College for Public Health & Social Justice, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO
| | - Min Dai
- China National Cancer Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Megan Romano
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown School of Public Health, Providence, RI
| | - Aifen Zou
- Wuhan Medical & Health Center for Women and Children, Wuhan, Hubei, P.R. China
| | - Karl Kelsey
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown School of Public Health, Providence, RI
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Xia W, Du X, Zheng T, Zhang B, Li Y, Bassig BA, Zhou A, Wang Y, Xiong C, Li Z, Yao Y, Hu J, Zhou Y, Liu J, Xue W, Ma Y, Pan X, Peng Y, Xu S. A Case-Control Study of Prenatal Thallium Exposure and Low Birth Weight in China. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2016; 124:164-9. [PMID: 26009470 PMCID: PMC4710601 DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1409202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2014] [Accepted: 05/20/2015] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Thallium (Tl) is a highly toxic heavy metal widely present in the environment. Case reports have suggested that maternal exposure to high levels of Tl during pregnancy is associated with low birth weight (LBW), but epidemiological data are limited. OBJECTIVES This study was designed to evaluate whether prenatal Tl exposure is associated with an increased risk of LBW. METHODS This case-control study involving 816 study participants (204 LBW cases and 612 matched controls) was conducted in Hubei Province, China, in 2012-2014. Tl concentrations were measured in maternal urine collected at delivery, and associations with LBW were evaluated using conditional logistic regression. RESULTS Higher maternal urinary Tl levels were significantly associated with increased risk of LBW [crude odds ratio (OR) = 1.52; 95% CI: 1.00, 2.30 for the highest vs. lowest tertile], and the association was similarly elevated after adjustment for potential confounders (adjusted OR = 1.90; 95% CI: 1.01, 3.58 for the highest vs. lowest tertile). Stratified analyses showed slightly higher risk estimates for LBW associated with higher Tl levels for mothers < 28 years old and for mothers with lower household income; however, there was no statistical evidence of heterogeneity in risk according to maternal age (p for heterogeneity = 0.18) or household income (p for heterogeneity = 0.28). CONCLUSION To our knowledge, ours is the first case-control study to investigate the association between prenatal Tl exposure and LBW. The results suggest that prenatal exposure to high levels of Tl may be associated with an increased risk of LBW. CITATION Xia W, Du X, Zheng T, Zhang B, Li Y, Bassig BA, Zhou A, Wang Y, Xiong C, Li Z, Yao Y, Hu J, Zhou Y, Liu J, Xue W, Ma Y, Pan X, Peng Y, Xu S. 2016. A case-control study of prenatal thallium exposure and low birth weight in China. Environ Health Perspect 124:164-169; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1409202.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Xia
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xiaofu Du
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
- Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
| | - Tongzhang Zheng
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Bin Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
- Women and Children Medical and Healthcare Center of Wuhan, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yuanyuan Li
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
| | - Bryan A. Bassig
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Aifen Zhou
- Women and Children Medical and Healthcare Center of Wuhan, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
| | - Youjie Wang
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
| | - Chao Xiong
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
- Women and Children Medical and Healthcare Center of Wuhan, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
| | - Zhengkuan Li
- Macheng Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Macheng, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yuanxiang Yao
- Ezhou Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Ezhou, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
| | - Jie Hu
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yanqiu Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
| | - Juan Liu
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
| | - Weiyan Xue
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yue Ma
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xinyun Pan
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yang Peng
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
| | - Shunqing Xu
- Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
- Address correspondence to S. Xu, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, People’s Republic of China. Telephone: 86 (27) 83657705. E-mail:
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Shehab H, Desouza ED, O’Meara J, Pejović-Milić A, Chettle DR, Fleming DEB, McNeill FE. Feasibility of measuring arsenic and selenium in human skin usingin vivox-ray fluorescence (XRF)—a comparison of methods. Physiol Meas 2015; 37:145-61. [DOI: 10.1088/0967-3334/37/1/145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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Kim YJ, Kim JM. Arsenic Toxicity in Male Reproduction and Development. Dev Reprod 2015; 19:167-80. [PMID: 26973968 PMCID: PMC4786478 DOI: 10.12717/dr.2015.19.4.167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2015] [Revised: 10/23/2015] [Accepted: 11/05/2015] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Arsenic is a toxic metalloid that exists ubiquitously in the environment, and affects global health problems due to its carcinogenicity. In most populations, the main source of arsenic exposure is the drinking water. In drinking water, chronic exposure to arsenic is associated with increased risks of various cancers including those of skin, lung, bladder, and liver, as well as numerous other non-cancer diseases including gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and neurologic and cognitive problems. Recent emerging evidences suggest that arsenic exposure affects the reproductive and developmental toxicity. Prenatal exposure to inorganic arsenic causes adverse pregnancy outcomes and children's health problems. Some epidemiological studies have reported that arsenic exposure induces premature delivery, spontaneous abortion, and stillbirth. In animal studies, inorganic arsenic also causes fetal malformation, growth retardation, and fetal death. These toxic effects depend on dose, route and gestation periods of arsenic exposure. In males, inorganic arsenic causes reproductive dysfunctions including reductions of the testis weights, accessory sex organs weights, and epididymal sperm counts. In addition, inorganic arsenic exposure also induces alterations of spermatogenesis, reductions of testosterone and gonadotrophins, and disruptions of steroidogenesis. However, the reproductive and developmental problems following arsenic exposure are poorly understood, and the molecular mechanism of arsenic-induced reproductive toxicity remains unclear. Thus, we further investigated several possible mechanisms underlying arsenic-induced reproductive toxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoon-Jae Kim
- Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, Dong-A University, Busan 602-714, Korea
| | - Jong-Min Kim
- Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, Dong-A University, Busan 602-714, Korea
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Abdul KSM, Jayasinghe SS, Chandana EPS, Jayasumana C, De Silva PMCS. Arsenic and human health effects: A review. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY 2015; 40:828-46. [PMID: 26476885 DOI: 10.1016/j.etap.2015.09.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 428] [Impact Index Per Article: 47.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2015] [Revised: 09/22/2015] [Accepted: 09/26/2015] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Arsenic (As) is ubiquitous in nature and humans being exposed to arsenic via atmospheric air, ground water and food sources are certain. Major sources of arsenic contamination could be either through geological or via anthropogenic activities. In physiological individuals, organ system is described as group of organs that transact collectively and associate with other systems for conventional body functions. Arsenic has been associated with persuading a variety of complications in body organ systems: integumentary, nervous, respiratory, cardiovascular, hematopoietic, immune, endocrine, hepatic, renal, reproductive system and development. In this review, we outline the effects of arsenic on the human body with a main focus on assorted organ systems with respective disease conditions. Additionally, underlying mechanisms of disease development in each organ system due to arsenic have also been explored. Strikingly, arsenic has been able to induce epigenetic changes (in utero) and genetic mutations (a leading cause of cancer) in the body. Occurrence of various arsenic induced health effects involving emerging areas such as epigenetics and cancer along with their respective mechanisms are also briefly discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Channa Jayasumana
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Rajarata University, Anuradhapura 50008, Sri Lanka
| | - P Mangala C S De Silva
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Ruhuna, Matara 81000, Sri Lanka
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75
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Marsit CJ. Influence of environmental exposure on human epigenetic regulation. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015; 218:71-9. [PMID: 25568453 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.106971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 149] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Environmental toxicants can alter epigenetic regulatory features such as DNA methylation and microRNA expression. As the sensitivity of epigenomic regulatory features may be greatest during the in utero period, when critical windows are narrow, and when epigenomic profiles are being set, this review will highlight research focused on that period. I will focus on work in human populations, where the impact of environmental toxicants in utero, including cigarette smoke and toxic trace metals such as arsenic, mercury and manganese, on genome-wide, gene-specific DNA methylation has been assessed. In particular, arsenic is highlighted, as this metalloid has been the focus of a number of studies and its detoxification mechanisms are well understood. Importantly, the tissues and cells being examined must be considered in context in order to interpret the findings of these studies. For example, by studying the placenta, it is possible to identify potential epigenetic adaptations of key genes and pathways that may alter the developmental course in line with the developmental origins of health and disease paradigm. Alternatively, studies of newborn cord blood can be used to examine how environmental exposure in utero can impact the composition of cells within the peripheral blood, leading to immunological effects of exposure. The results suggest that in humans, like other vertebrates, there is a susceptibility for epigenomic alteration by the environment during intrauterine development, and this may represent a mechanism of plasticity of the organism in response to its environment as well as a mechanism through which long-term health consequences can be shaped.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carmen J Marsit
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Section of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the Department of Community and Family Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
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76
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Thomas S, Arbuckle TE, Fisher M, Fraser WD, Ettinger A, King W. Metals exposure and risk of small-for-gestational age birth in a Canadian birth cohort: The MIREC study. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2015; 140:430-9. [PMID: 25967284 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2015.04.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2015] [Revised: 04/23/2015] [Accepted: 04/28/2015] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic are some of the most common toxic metals to which Canadians are exposed. The effect of exposure to current low levels of toxic metals on fetal growth restriction is unknown. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine relationships between exposure to lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic during pregnancy, and risk of small for gestational age (SGA) birth. METHODS Lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic levels were measured in blood samples from the first and third trimesters in 1835 pregnant women from across Canada. Arsenic species in first trimester urine were also assessed. Relative risks and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using log binomial multivariate regression. Important covariates including maternal age, parity, pre-pregnancy BMI, and smoking, were considered in the analysis. An exploratory analysis was performed to examine potential effect modification of these relationships by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in GSTP1 and GSTO1 genes. RESULTS No association was found between blood lead, cadmium or arsenic and risk for SGA. We observed an increased risk for SGA for the highest compared to the lowest tertile of exposure for mercury (>1.6 µg/L, RR=1.56.; 95% CI=1.04-2.58) and arsenobetaine (>2.25 µg/L, RR=1.65; 95% CI=1.10-2.47) after adjustment for the effects of parity and smoking. A statistically significant interaction was observed in the relationship between dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) levels in urinary arsenic and SGA between strata of GSTO1 A104A (p for interaction=0.02). A marginally significant interaction was observed in the relationship between blood lead and SGA between strata of GSTP1 A114V (p for interaction=0.06). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest a small increase in risk for SGA in infants born to women exposed to mercury and arsenic. Given the conflicting evidence in the literature this warrants further investigation in other pregnant populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shari Thomas
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Tye E Arbuckle
- Population Studies Division, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Canada.
| | - Mandy Fisher
- Population Studies Division, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Canada
| | - William D Fraser
- Sainte Justine University Hospital Research Center, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada
| | - Adrienne Ettinger
- Center for Perinatal, Pediatric & Environmental Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Will King
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
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McCoy CR, Stadelman BS, Brumaghim JL, Liu JT, Bain LJ. Arsenic and Its Methylated Metabolites Inhibit the Differentiation of Neural Plate Border Specifier Cells. Chem Res Toxicol 2015; 28:1409-21. [PMID: 26024302 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.5b00036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to arsenic in food and drinking water has been correlated with adverse developmental outcomes, such as reductions in birth weight and neurological deficits. Additionally, studies have shown that arsenic suppresses sensory neuron formation and skeletal muscle myogenesis, although the reason why arsenic targets both of these cell types in unclear. Thus, P19 mouse embryonic stem cells were used to investigate the mechanisms by which arsenic could inhibit cellular differentiation. P19 cells were exposed to 0, 0.1, or 0.5 μM sodium arsenite and induced to form embryoid bodies over a period of 5 days. The expression of transcription factors necessary to form neural plate border specifier (NPBS) cells, neural crest cells and their progenitors, and myocytes and their progenitors were examined. Early during differentiation, arsenic significantly reduced the transcript and protein expression of Msx1 and Pax3, both needed for NPBS cell formation. Arsenic also significantly reduced the protein expression of Sox 10, needed for neural crest progenitor cell production, by 31-50%, and downregulated the protein and mRNA levels of NeuroD1, needed for neural crest cell differentiation, in a time- and dose-dependent manner. While the overall protein expression of transcription factors in the skeletal muscle lineage was not changed, arsenic did alter their nuclear localization. MyoD nuclear translocation was significantly reduced on days 2-5 between 15 and 70%. At a 10-fold lower concentration, monomethylarsonous acid (MMA III) appeared to be just as potent as inorganic arsenic at reducing the mRNA levels Pax3 (79% vs84%), Sox10 (49% vs 65%), and Msx1 (56% vs 56%). Dimethylarsinous acid (DMA III) also reduced protein and transcript expression, but the changes were less dramatic than those with MMA or arsenite. All three arsenic species reduced the nuclear localization of MyoD and NeuroD1 in a similar manner. The early changes in the differentiation of neural plate border specifier cells may provide a mechanism for arsenic to suppress both neurogenesis and myogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher R McCoy
- †Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, 132 Long Hall, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States
| | - Bradley S Stadelman
- ‡Department of Chemistry, Clemson University, 219 Hunter Laboratories, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States
| | - Julia L Brumaghim
- ‡Department of Chemistry, Clemson University, 219 Hunter Laboratories, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States
| | - Jui-Tung Liu
- §Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program, Clemson University, 132 Long Hall, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States
| | - Lisa J Bain
- †Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, 132 Long Hall, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States.,§Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program, Clemson University, 132 Long Hall, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States
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GLI3 Links Environmental Arsenic Exposure and Human Fetal Growth. EBioMedicine 2015; 2:536-43. [PMID: 26288817 PMCID: PMC4535308 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2015.04.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2014] [Revised: 04/29/2015] [Accepted: 04/30/2015] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Although considerable evidence suggests that in utero arsenic exposure affects children's health, these data are mainly from areas of the world where groundwater arsenic levels far exceed the World Health Organization limit of 10 μg/L. We, and others, have found that more common levels of in utero arsenic exposure may also impact children's health. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. To address this issue, we analyzed the expression of key developmental genes in fetal placenta in a birth cohort of women using unregulated water supplies in a US region with elevated groundwater arsenic. We identified several genes whose expression associated with maternal arsenic exposure in a fetal sex-specific manner. In particular, expression of the HEDGEHOG pathway component, GLI3, in female placentae was both negatively associated with arsenic exposure and positively associated with infant birth weight. This suggests that modulation of GLI3 in the fetal placenta, and perhaps in other fetal tissues, contributes to arsenic's detrimental effects on fetal growth. We showed previously that arsenic-exposed NIH3T3 cells have reduced GLI3 repressor protein. Together, these studies identify GLI3 as a key signaling node that is affected by arsenic, mediating a subset of its effects on developmental signaling and fetal health. In utero arsenic exposure associates with the expression of several key developmental genes in the fetal placenta. There is extensive sexual dimorphism in the associations between placental gene expression and in utero arsenic exposure. GLI3 expression in the female fetal placenta associates with arsenic exposure and may mediate its effects on fetal growth.
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Gumilar F, Lencinas I, Bras C, Giannuzzi L, Minetti A. Locomotor activity and sensory – motor developmental alterations in rat offspring exposed to arsenic prenatally and via lactation. Neurotoxicol Teratol 2015; 49:1-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ntt.2015.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2014] [Revised: 02/12/2015] [Accepted: 02/18/2015] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
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Quansah R, Armah FA, Essumang DK, Luginaah I, Clarke E, Marfoh K, Cobbina SJ, Nketiah-Amponsah E, Namujju PB, Obiri S, Dzodzomenyo M. Association of arsenic with adverse pregnancy outcomes/infant mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2015; 123:412-21. [PMID: 25626053 PMCID: PMC4421764 DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1307894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 200] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2013] [Accepted: 01/23/2015] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Exposure to arsenic is one of the major global health problems, affecting > 300 million people worldwide, but arsenic's effects on human reproduction are uncertain. OBJECTIVES We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the association between arsenic and adverse pregnancy outcomes/infant mortality. METHODS We searched PubMed and Ovid MEDLINE (from 1946 through July 2013) and EMBASE (from 1988 through July 2013) databases and the reference lists of reviews and relevant articles. Studies satisfying our a priori eligibility criteria were evaluated independently by two authors. RESULTS Our systematic search yielded 888 articles; of these, 23 were included in the systematic review. Sixteen provided sufficient data for our quantitative analysis. Arsenic in groundwater (≥ 50 μg/L) was associated with increased risk of spontaneous abortion (6 studies: OR = 1.98; 95% CI: 1.27, 3.10), stillbirth (9 studies: OR = 1.77; 95% CI: 1.32, 2.36), moderate risk of neonatal mortality (5 studies: OR = 1.51; 95% CI: 1.28, 1.78), and infant mortality (7 studies: OR = 1.35; 95% CI: 1.12, 1.62). Exposure to environmental arsenic was associated with a significant reduction in birth weight (4 studies: β = -53.2 g; 95% CI: -94.9, -11.4). There was paucity of evidence for low-to-moderate arsenic dose. CONCLUSIONS Arsenic is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes and infant mortality. The interpretation of the causal association is hampered by methodological challenges and limited number of studies on dose response. Exposure to arsenic continues to be a major global health issue, and we therefore advocate for high-quality prospective studies that include individual-level data to quantify the impact of arsenic on adverse pregnancy outcomes/infant mortality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reginald Quansah
- Centre for Environmental and Respiratory Health Research, Faculty of Medicine, University Of Oulu, Finland
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Sánchez-Virosta P, Espín S, García-Fernández AJ, Eeva T. A review on exposure and effects of arsenic in passerine birds. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2015; 512-513:506-525. [PMID: 25644847 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.01.069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2014] [Revised: 01/20/2015] [Accepted: 01/21/2015] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED Arsenic (As) is a metalloid of high concern because of its toxic effects for plants and animals. However, it is hard to find information on this metalloid in passerines. This review presents a comprehensive overview of As exposure and effects in birds, and more particularly in passerines, as a result of an extensive search of the literature available. Internal tissues are the most frequently analyzed matrices for As determination in passerines (37.5% of the reviewed studies used internal tissues), followed by feathers and eggs (32.5% each), feces (27.5%), and finally blood (15%). A clear tendency is found in recent years to the use of non-destructive samples. Most studies on As concentrations in passerines have been done in great tit (Parus major; 50%), followed by pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca; 22.5%). Some factors such as diet and migratory status are crucial on the interspecific differences in As exposure. More studies are needed to elucidate if intraspecific factors like age or gender affect As concentrations in different tissues. The literature review shows that studies on As concentrations in passerines have been done mainly in the United States (30%), followed by Belgium (22.5%), and Finland (20%), making evident the scarce or even lack of information in some countries, so we recommend further research in order to overcome the data gap, particularly in the southern hemisphere. Studies on humans, laboratory animals and birds have found a wide range of effects on different organ systems when they are exposed to different forms of As. This review shows that few field studies on As exposure and effects in passerines have been done, and all of them are correlative so far. Arsenic manipulation experiments on passerines are recommended to explore the adverse effects of As in free-living populations at similar levels to those occurring in the environment. CAPSULE This review summarizes the most interesting published studies on As exposure and effects in passerines.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Sánchez-Virosta
- Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland.
| | - S Espín
- Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland; Department of Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain
| | - A J García-Fernández
- Department of Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain
| | - T Eeva
- Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
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Shi X, Ayotte JD, Onda A, Miller S, Rees J, Gilbert-Diamond D, Onega T, Gui J, Karagas M, Moeschler J. Geospatial association between adverse birth outcomes and arsenic in groundwater in New Hampshire, USA. ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY AND HEALTH 2015; 37:333-51. [PMID: 25326895 PMCID: PMC4425200 DOI: 10.1007/s10653-014-9651-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2013] [Accepted: 09/23/2014] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
There is increasing evidence of the role of arsenic in the etiology of adverse human reproductive outcomes. Because drinking water can be a major source of arsenic to pregnant women, the effect of arsenic exposure through drinking water on human birth may be revealed by a geospatial association between arsenic concentration in groundwater and birth problems, particularly in a region where private wells substantially account for water supply, like New Hampshire, USA. We calculated town-level rates of preterm birth and term low birth weight (term LBW) for New Hampshire, by using data for 1997-2009 stratified by maternal age. We smoothed the rates by using a locally weighted averaging method to increase the statistical stability. The town-level groundwater arsenic probability values are from three GIS data layers generated by the US Geological Survey: probability of local groundwater arsenic concentration >1 µg/L, probability >5 µg/L, and probability >10 µg/L. We calculated Pearson's correlation coefficients (r) between the reproductive outcomes (preterm birth and term LBW) and the arsenic probability values, at both state and county levels. For preterm birth, younger mothers (maternal age <20) have a statewide r = 0.70 between the rates smoothed with a threshold = 2,000 births and the town mean arsenic level based on the data of probability >10 µg/L; for older mothers, r = 0.19 when the smoothing threshold = 3,500; a majority of county level r values are positive based on the arsenic data of probability >10 µg/L. For term LBW, younger mothers (maternal age <25) have a statewide r = 0.44 between the rates smoothed with a threshold = 3,500 and town minimum arsenic concentration based on the data of probability >1 µg/L; for older mothers, r = 0.14 when the rates are smoothed with a threshold = 1,000 births and also adjusted by town median household income in 1999, and the arsenic values are the town minimum based on probability >10 µg/L. At the county level for younger mothers, positive r values prevail, but for older mothers, it is a mix. For both birth problems, the several most populous counties-with 60-80 % of the state's population and clustering at the southwest corner of the state-are largely consistent in having a positive r across different smoothing thresholds. We found evident spatial associations between the two adverse human reproductive outcomes and groundwater arsenic in New Hampshire, USA. However, the degree of associations and their sensitivity to different representations of arsenic level are variable. Generally, preterm birth has a stronger spatial association with groundwater arsenic than term LBW, suggesting an inconsistency in the impact of arsenic on the two reproductive outcomes. For both outcomes, younger maternal age has stronger spatial associations with groundwater arsenic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xun Shi
- Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA,
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83
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Abstract
Prior research has shown that arsenic exposure induces changes that coincide with most of the developmental, biochemical, pathologic, and clinical features of Alzheimer disease (AD) and associated disorders. On the basis of this literature, we propose the Arsenic Exposure Hypothesis for AD that is inclusive of and cooperative with the existing hypotheses. Arsenic toxicity induces hyperphosphorylation of protein tau and overtranscription of the amyloid precursor protein, which are involved in the formation of neurofibrillary tangles and brain amyloid plaques, consistent with the amyloid hypothesis of AD. Arsenic exposure has been associated with cardiovascular diseases and associated risk factors, which is in agreement with the vascular hypothesis of AD. Arsenic exposure invokes brain inflammatory responses, which resonates with the inflammatory hypotheses of AD. Arsenic exposure has been linked to reduced memory and intellectual abilities in children and adolescents, which provides a biologic basis for the developmental origin of health and disease hypothesis for AD. Arsenic and its metabolites generate free radicals causing oxidative stress and neuronal death, which fits the existing oxidative stress hypothesis. Taken together, the arsenic exposure hypothesis for AD provides a parsimonious testable hypothesis for the development and progression of this devastating disease at least for some subsets of individuals.
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84
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Laine JE, Bailey KA, Rubio-Andrade M, Olshan AF, Smeester L, Drobná Z, Herring AH, Stýblo M, García-Vargas GG, Fry RC. Maternal arsenic exposure, arsenic methylation efficiency, and birth outcomes in the Biomarkers of Exposure to ARsenic (BEAR) pregnancy cohort in Mexico. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2015; 123:186-92. [PMID: 25325819 PMCID: PMC4314242 DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1307476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2013] [Accepted: 10/15/2014] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Exposure to inorganic arsenic (iAs) from drinking water is a global public health problem, yet much remains unknown about the extent of exposure in susceptible populations. OBJECTIVES We aimed to establish the Biomarkers of Exposure to ARsenic (BEAR) prospective pregnancy cohort in Gómez Palacio, Mexico, to better understand the effects of iAs exposure on pregnant women and their children. METHODS Two hundred pregnant women were recruited for this study. Concentrations of iAs in drinking water (DW-iAs) and maternal urinary concentrations of iAs and its monomethylated and dimethylated metabolites (MMAs and DMAs, respectively) were determined. Birth outcomes were analyzed for their relationship to DW-iAs and to the concentrations and proportions of maternal urinary arsenicals. RESULTS DW-iAs for the study subjects ranged from < 0.5 to 236 μg As/L. More than half of the women (53%) had DW-iAs that exceeded the World Health Organization's recommended guideline of 10 μg As/L. DW-iAs was significantly associated with the sum of the urinary arsenicals (U-tAs). Maternal urinary concentrations of MMAs were negatively associated with newborn birth weight and gestational age. Maternal urinary concentrations of iAs were associated with lower mean gestational age and newborn length. CONCLUSIONS Biomonitoring results demonstrate that pregnant women in Gómez Palacio are exposed to potentially harmful levels of DW-iAs. The data support a relationship between iAs metabolism in pregnant women and adverse birth outcomes. The results underscore the risks associated with iAs exposure in vulnerable populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica E Laine
- Department of Epidemiology, and Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Gillings School of Public Heath, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
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85
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Prenatal exposure to arsenic and cadmium impacts infectious disease-related genes within the glucocorticoid receptor signal transduction pathway. Int J Mol Sci 2014; 15:22374-91. [PMID: 25479081 PMCID: PMC4284714 DOI: 10.3390/ijms151222374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2014] [Revised: 11/04/2014] [Accepted: 11/26/2014] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
There is increasing evidence that environmental agents mediate susceptibility to infectious disease. Studies support the impact of prenatal/early life exposure to the environmental metals inorganic arsenic (iAs) and cadmium (Cd) on increased risk for susceptibility to infection. The specific biological mechanisms that underlie such exposure-mediated effects remain understudied. This research aimed to identify key genes/signal transduction pathways that associate prenatal exposure to these toxic metals with changes in infectious disease susceptibility using a Comparative Genomic Enrichment Method (CGEM). Using CGEM an infectious disease gene (IDG) database was developed comprising 1085 genes with known roles in viral, bacterial, and parasitic disease pathways. Subsequently, datasets collected from human pregnancy cohorts exposed to iAs or Cd were examined in relationship to the IDGs, specifically focusing on data representing epigenetic modifications (5-methyl cytosine), genomic perturbations (mRNA expression), and proteomic shifts (protein expression). A set of 82 infection and exposure-related genes was identified and found to be enriched for their role in the glucocorticoid receptor signal transduction pathway. Given their common identification across numerous human cohorts and their known toxicological role in disease, the identified genes within the glucocorticoid signal transduction pathway may underlie altered infectious disease susceptibility associated with prenatal exposures to the toxic metals iAs and Cd in humans.
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86
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McDermott S, Bao W, Aelion CM, Cai B, Lawson AB. Does the metal content in soil around a pregnant woman's home increase the risk of low birth weight for her infant? ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY AND HEALTH 2014; 36:1191-7. [PMID: 24771409 PMCID: PMC4663686 DOI: 10.1007/s10653-014-9617-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2012] [Accepted: 04/11/2014] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Low birth weight (LBW) is associated with a number of maternal environmental exposures during pregnancy. This study explored the association between soil metal concentrations around the home where the mother lived during pregnancy and the outcome of LBW. We used a retrospective cohort of 9,920 mother-child pairs who were insured by Medicaid during pregnancy and lived in ten residential areas, where we conducted soil sampling. We used a grid that overlaid the residential areas and collected soil samples at the grid intersections. The soil was analyzed for the concentration of eight metals [arsenic (As), barium (Ba), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), and mercury (Hg)], and we then used Bayesian Kriging to estimate the concentration at the actual maternal addresses, since we had the GIS coordinates of the homes. We used generalized additive modeling, because the metal concentrations had nonlinear associations with LBW, to develop the best fitting multivariable model for estimating the risk of LBW. The final model showed significant associations for female infants, maternal smoking during pregnancy, non-white mothers, Cu, and As with LBW. The As variable was nonlinear in relation to LBW, and the association between higher concentrations of As with LBW was strong (p = 0.002). We identified a statistically significant association between soil concentrations of arsenic around the home of pregnant women and an increased risk of LBW for her infant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanne McDermott
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Discovery 1, 915 Greene Street, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
| | - Weichao Bao
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Discovery 1, 915 Greene Street, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
| | - C. Marjorie Aelion
- School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 715 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Bo Cai
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Discovery 1, 915 Greene Street, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
| | - Andrew B. Lawson
- Department of Biostatistics, Bioinformatics and Epidemiology, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Cannon Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
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87
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Hong YS, Song KH, Chung JY. Health effects of chronic arsenic exposure. J Prev Med Public Health 2014; 47:245-52. [PMID: 25284195 PMCID: PMC4186552 DOI: 10.3961/jpmph.14.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 205] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2014] [Accepted: 09/03/2014] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Arsenic is a unique element with distinct physical characteristics and toxicity whose importance in public health is well recognized. The toxicity of arsenic varies across its different forms. While the carcinogenicity of arsenic has been confirmed, the mechanisms behind the diseases occurring after acute or chronic exposure to arsenic are not well understood. Inorganic arsenic has been confirmed as a human carcinogen that can induce skin, lung, and bladder cancer. There are also reports of its significant association to liver, prostate, and bladder cancer. Recent studies have also suggested a relationship with diabetes, neurological effects, cardiac disorders, and reproductive organs, but further studies are required to confirm these associations. The majority of research to date has examined cancer incidence after a high exposure to high concentrations of arsenic. However, numerous studies have reported various health effects caused by chronic exposure to low concentrations of arsenic. An assessment of the health effects to arsenic exposure has never been performed in the South Korean population; thus, objective estimates of exposure levels are needed. Data should be collected on the biological exposure level for the total arsenic concentration, and individual arsenic concentration by species. In South Korea, we believe that biological exposure assessment should be the first step, followed by regular health effect assessments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Young-Seoub Hong
- Heavy Metal Exposure Environmental Health Center, Dong-A University, Busan, Korea
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea
| | - Ki-Hoon Song
- Department of Dermatology, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea
| | - Jin-Yong Chung
- Heavy Metal Exposure Environmental Health Center, Dong-A University, Busan, Korea
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88
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Bloom MS, Surdu S, Neamtiu IA, Gurzau ES. Maternal arsenic exposure and birth outcomes: a comprehensive review of the epidemiologic literature focused on drinking water. Int J Hyg Environ Health 2014; 217:709-19. [PMID: 24713268 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2014.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2014] [Revised: 03/12/2014] [Accepted: 03/13/2014] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Inorganic arsenic (iAs) is a human toxicant to which populations may be exposed through consumption of geogenically contaminated groundwater. A growing body of experimental literature corroborates the reproductive toxicity of iAs; however, the results of human studies are inconsistent. Therefore, we conducted a comprehensive review of epidemiologic studies focused on drinking water iAs exposure and birth outcomes to assess the evidence for causality and to make recommendations for future study. We reviewed 18 English language papers assessing birth weight, gestational age, and birth size. Thirteen of the studies were conducted among populations with frequent exposure to high-level groundwater iAs contamination (>10 μg/L) and five studies were conducted in areas without recognized contamination. Most studies comprised small samples and used cross-sectional designs, often with ecologic exposure assessment strategies, although several large prospective investigations and studies with individual-level measurements were also reported. We conclude that: (1) the epidemiologic evidence for an increased risk of low birth weight (<2500 g) is insufficient, although there exists limited evidence for birth weight decreases; (2) the evidence for increased preterm delivery is insufficient; and, (3) there exists minimal evidence for decreased birth size. In further investigation of birth weight and size, we recommend incorporation of individual susceptibility measures using appropriate biomarkers, with collection timed to windows of vulnerability and speciated arsenic analysis, as well as consideration of populations exposed primarily to drinking water iAs contamination <10 μg/L. Given the large potential public health impact, additional, high quality epidemiologic studies are necessary to more definitively assess the risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael S Bloom
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, NY USA; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, NY USA.
| | - Simona Surdu
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, NY USA
| | | | - Eugen S Gurzau
- Environmental Health Center, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Iuliu Hatieganu", Cluj-Napoca, Romania
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89
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D'Amico AR, Gibson AW, Bain LJ. Embryonic arsenic exposure reduces the number of muscle fibers in killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus). AQUATIC TOXICOLOGY (AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS) 2014; 146:196-204. [PMID: 24316437 DOI: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2013.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2013] [Revised: 11/12/2013] [Accepted: 11/13/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Arsenic is a contaminant of drinking water and has been correlated with adverse developmental outcomes such as low birth weight, reduced weight gain, and altered locomotor activity. Previous research has shown that killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) exposed to high arsenic levels during embryogenesis had smaller muscle fiber diameters. The current study was designed to determine whether changes in muscle fibers persisted, were exacerbated, or resolved over time. Killifish embryos were exposed to 0-5 ppm arsenite and, upon hatching, were transferred into either clean water or continued receiving the same exposure to arsenic for up to 16 weeks. Arsenic significantly decreased the weight of both embryonic-only exposed juveniles and continuously exposed juveniles between 4 and 16 weeks of development at concentrations as low as 0.8 ppm. Although arsenite exposure increased the percentage of small diameter fibers during the early weeks, fiber diameters returned to control levels in the embryonic-only exposed fish. However, muscle fiber density was still reduced to 85.7%, 80.3%, and 73.8% of control for the 0.8, 2, and 5 ppm embryonic-only exposure groups, respectively, even after 16 weeks of development. These results indicate that while continuous exposure to arsenic may alter the size of muscle fibers, embryonic-only exposure to arsenic has lasting effects on the number of muscle fibers formed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela R D'Amico
- Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, 132 Long Hall, Clemson, SC 29631, United States
| | - Alec W Gibson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, 132 Long Hall, Clemson, SC 29631, United States
| | - Lisa J Bain
- Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, 132 Long Hall, Clemson, SC 29631, United States; Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program, Clemson University, 132 Long Hall, Clemson, SC 29631, United States.
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90
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Ahmed S, Rekha RS, Ahsan KB, Doi M, Grandér M, Roy AK, Ekström EC, Wagatsuma Y, Vahter M, Raqib R. Arsenic exposure affects plasma insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in children in rural Bangladesh. PLoS One 2013; 8:e81530. [PMID: 24303053 PMCID: PMC3841153 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0081530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2013] [Accepted: 10/14/2013] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Exposure to inorganic arsenic (As) through drinking water during pregnancy is associated with lower birth size and child growth. The aim of the study was to assess the effects of As exposure on child growth parameters to evaluate causal associations. METHODOLOGY/FINDINGS Children born in a longitudinal mother-child cohort in rural Bangladesh were studied at 4.5 years (n=640) as well as at birth (n=134). Exposure to arsenic was assessed by concurrent and prenatal (maternal) urinary concentrations of arsenic metabolites (U-As). Associations with plasma concentrations of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), calcium (Ca), vitamin D (Vit-D), bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (B-ALP), intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), and phosphate (PO4) were evaluated by linear regression analysis, adjusted for socioeconomic factor, parity and child sex. Child U-As (per 10 µg/L) was significantly inversely associated with concurrent plasma IGF-1 (β=-0.27; 95% confidence interval: -0.50, -0.0042) at 4.5 years. The effect was more obvious in girls (β=-0.29; -0.59, 0.021) than in boys, and particularly in girls with adequate height (β=-0.491; -0.97, -0.02) or weight (β=-0.47; 0.97, 0.01). Maternal U-As was inversely associated with child IGF-1 at birth (r=-0.254, P=0.003), but not at 4.5 years. There was a tendency of positive association between U-As and plasma PO4 in stunted boys (β=0.27; 0.089, 0.46). When stratified by % monomethylarsonic acid (MMA, arsenic metabolite) (median split at 9.7%), a much stronger inverse association between U-As and IGF-1 in the girls (β=-0.41; -0.77, -0.03) was obtained above the median split. CONCLUSION The results suggest that As-related growth impairment in children is mediated, at least partly, through suppressed IGF-1 levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sultan Ahmed
- Centre for Vaccine Sciences, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Rokeya Sultana Rekha
- Centre for Vaccine Sciences, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Khalid Bin Ahsan
- Centre for Vaccine Sciences, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Mariko Doi
- Department of Clinical Trial and Clinical Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Margaretha Grandér
- Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Anjan Kumar Roy
- Centre for Vaccine Sciences, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Eva-Charlotte Ekström
- International Maternal and Child Health, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Yukiko Wagatsuma
- Department of Clinical Trial and Clinical Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Marie Vahter
- Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Rubhana Raqib
- Centre for Vaccine Sciences, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), Dhaka, Bangladesh
- * E-mail:
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91
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Gelmann ER, Gurzau E, Gurzau A, Goessler W, Kunrath J, Yeckel CW, McCarty KM. A pilot study: the importance of inter-individual differences in inorganic arsenic metabolism for birth weight outcome. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY 2013; 36:1266-75. [PMID: 24211595 PMCID: PMC3867795 DOI: 10.1016/j.etap.2013.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2013] [Revised: 10/05/2013] [Accepted: 10/09/2013] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Inorganic arsenic (iAs) exposure is detrimental to birth outcome. We lack information regarding the potential for iAs metabolism to affect fetal growth. Our pilot study evaluated postpartum Romanian women with known birth weight outcome for differences in iAs metabolism. Subjects were chronically exposed to low-to-moderate drinking water iAs. We analyzed well water, arsenic metabolites in urine, and toenail arsenic. Urine iAs and metabolites, toenail iAs, and secondary methylation efficiency increased as an effect of exposure (p<0.001). Urine iAs and metabolites showed a significant interaction effect between exposure and birth weight. Moderately exposed women with low compared to normal birth weight outcome had greater metabolite excretion (p<0.03); 67% with low compared to 10% with normal birth weight outcome presented urine iAs >9 μg/L (p=0.019). Metabolic partitioning of iAs toward excretion may impair fetal growth. Prospective studies on iAs excretion before and during pregnancy may provide a biomarker for poor fetal growth risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elyssa R Gelmann
- Yale School of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale University, 60 College Street, P.O. Box 208034, New Haven, CT 06520-8034, USA
| | - Eugen Gurzau
- Environmental Health Centre, Busuiocului 58, Cluj-Napoca, Romania 400240
- Babeş-Bolyai University, Mihail Kogalniceanu nr. 1, Cluj-Napoca, Romania 400084
| | - Anca Gurzau
- Environmental Health Centre, Busuiocului 58, Cluj-Napoca, Romania 400240
| | - Walter Goessler
- Karl-Franzens-Universität, Institut für Chemie, Schubertstraße 1/ III, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Julie Kunrath
- Yale School of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale University, 60 College Street, P.O. Box 208034, New Haven, CT 06520-8034, USA
| | - Catherine W Yeckel
- Yale School of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale University, 60 College Street, P.O. Box 208034, New Haven, CT 06520-8034, USA
- The John B. Pierce Laboratory, 290 Congress Avenue, New Haven, Connecticut 06519, USA
| | - Kathleen M McCarty
- Yale School of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale University, 60 College Street, P.O. Box 208034, New Haven, CT 06520-8034, USA
- The Children's Health and Environment Program, Queensland Children's Medical Research Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane St. Lucia, QLD 4072 Australia
- Biogen Idec, 14 Cambridge Place, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
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92
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Farzan SF, Karagas MR, Chen Y. In utero and early life arsenic exposure in relation to long-term health and disease. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 2013; 272:384-90. [PMID: 23859881 PMCID: PMC3783578 DOI: 10.1016/j.taap.2013.06.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 146] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2013] [Revised: 06/28/2013] [Accepted: 06/29/2013] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is a growing body of evidence that prenatal and early childhood exposure to arsenic from drinking water can have serious long-term health implications. OBJECTIVES Our goal was to understand the potential long-term health and disease risks associated with in utero and early life exposure to arsenic, as well as to examine parallels between findings from epidemiological studies with those from experimental animal models. METHODS We examined the current literature and identified relevant studies through PubMed by using combinations of the search terms "arsenic", "in utero", "transplacental", "prenatal" and "fetal". DISCUSSION Ecological studies have indicated associations between in utero and/or early life exposure to arsenic at high levels and increases in mortality from cancer, cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease. Additional data from epidemiologic studies suggest intermediate effects in early life that are related to risk of these and other outcomes in adulthood. Experimental animal studies largely support studies in humans, with strong evidence of transplacental carcinogenesis, atherosclerosis and respiratory disease, as well as insight into potential underlying mechanisms of arsenic's health effects. CONCLUSIONS As millions worldwide are exposed to arsenic and evidence continues to support a role for in utero arsenic exposure in the development of a range of later life diseases, there is a need for more prospective studies examining arsenic's relation to early indicators of disease and at lower exposure levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shohreh F. Farzan
- Children’s Environmental Health & Disease Prevention Research Center at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755
- Section of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Community and Family Medicine and Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, 03756
| | - Margaret R. Karagas
- Children’s Environmental Health & Disease Prevention Research Center at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755
- Section of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Community and Family Medicine and Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, 03756
| | - Yu Chen
- Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016
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93
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Farzan SF, Korrick S, Li Z, Enelow R, Gandolfi AJ, Madan J, Nadeau K, Karagas MR. In utero arsenic exposure and infant infection in a United States cohort: a prospective study. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2013; 126:24-30. [PMID: 23769261 PMCID: PMC3808159 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2013.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2012] [Revised: 04/22/2013] [Accepted: 05/03/2013] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Arsenic (As), a ubiquitous environmental toxicant, has recently been linked to disrupted immune function and enhanced infection susceptibility in highly exposed populations. In drinking water, as levels above the EPA maximum contaminant level occur in our US study area and are a particular health concern for pregnant women and infants. As a part of the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study, we investigated whether in utero exposure to As affects risk of infant infections. We prospectively obtained information on 4-month-old infants (n=214) using a parental telephone survey on infant infections and symptoms, including respiratory infections, diarrhea and specific illnesses, as well as the duration and severity of infections. Using logistic regression and Poisson models, we evaluated the association between maternal urinary As during pregnancy and infection risks adjusted for potentially confounding factors. Maternal urinary As concentrations were related to total number of infections requiring a physician visit (relative risk (RR) per one-fold increase in As in urine=1.5; 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.0, 2.1) or prescription medication (RR=1.6; 95% CI=1.1, 2.4), as well as lower respiratory infections treated with prescription medication (RR=3.3; 95% CI=1.2, 9.0). Associations were observed with respiratory symptoms (RR=4.0; 95% CI=1.0, 15.8), upper respiratory infections (RR=1.6; 95% CI=1.0, 2.5), and colds treated with prescription medication (RR=2.3; 95% CI=1.0, 5.2). Our results provide initial evidence that in utero As exposure may be related to infant infection and infection severity and provide insight into the early life impacts of fetal As exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shohreh F. Farzan
- Children’s Environmental Health & Disease Prevention Research Center at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755
- Section of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Community and Family Medicine and Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, 03756
| | - Susan Korrick
- Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Zhigang Li
- Children’s Environmental Health & Disease Prevention Research Center at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755
- Section of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Community and Family Medicine and Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, 03756
| | - Richard Enelow
- Children’s Environmental Health & Disease Prevention Research Center at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03756
| | - A. Jay Gandolfi
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
| | - Juliette Madan
- Children’s Environmental Health & Disease Prevention Research Center at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH 03756
| | - Kari Nadeau
- Division of Immunology and Allergy, Stanford Medical School and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford, CA, 94305
| | - Margaret R. Karagas
- Children’s Environmental Health & Disease Prevention Research Center at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755
- Section of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Community and Family Medicine and Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, 03756
- To whom correspondence should be addressed: Margaret R. Karagas, Section of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine, One Medical Center Drive, 7927 Rubin, Lebanon, NH, 03756, , telephone: (603) 653-9010, fax: (603) 653-9093
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94
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Fei DL, Koestler DC, Li Z, Giambelli C, Sanchez-Mejias A, Gosse JA, Marsit CJ, Karagas MR, Robbins DJ. Association between In Utero arsenic exposure, placental gene expression, and infant birth weight: a US birth cohort study. Environ Health 2013; 12:58. [PMID: 23866971 PMCID: PMC3733767 DOI: 10.1186/1476-069x-12-58] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2013] [Accepted: 07/01/2013] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Epidemiologic studies and animal models suggest that in utero arsenic exposure affects fetal health, with a negative association between maternal arsenic ingestion and infant birth weight often observed. However, the molecular mechanisms for this association remain elusive. In the present study, we aimed to increase our understanding of the impact of low-dose arsenic exposure on fetal health by identifying possible arsenic-associated fetal tissue biomarkers in a cohort of pregnant women exposed to arsenic at low levels. METHODS Arsenic concentrations were determined from the urine samples of a cohort of 133 pregnant women from New Hampshire. Placental tissue samples collected from enrollees were homogenized and profiled for gene expression across a panel of candidate genes, including known arsenic regulated targets and genes involved in arsenic transport, metabolism, or disease susceptibility. Multivariable adjusted linear regression models were used to examine the relationship of candidate gene expression with arsenic exposure or with birth weight of the baby. RESULTS Placental expression of the arsenic transporter AQP9 was positively associated with maternal urinary arsenic levels during pregnancy (coefficient estimate: 0.25; 95% confidence interval: 0.05 - 0.45). Placental expression of AQP9 related to expression of the phospholipase ENPP2 which was positively associated with infant birth weight (coefficient estimate: 0.28; 95% CI: 0.09 - 0.47). A structural equation model indicated that these genes may mediate arsenic's effect on infant birth weight (coefficient estimate: -0.009; 95% confidence interval: -0.032 - -0.001; 10,000 replications for bootstrapping). CONCLUSIONS We identified the expression of AQP9 as a potential fetal biomarker for arsenic exposure. Further, we identified a positive association between the placental expression of phospholipase ENPP2 and infant birth weight. These findings suggest a path by which arsenic may affect birth outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dennis Liang Fei
- Department of Surgery, Molecular Oncology Program, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Program in Experimental and Molecular Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
- Current address: National Institutes of Health, National Human Genome Research Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Devin C Koestler
- Department of Community and Family Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
| | - Zhigang Li
- Department of Community and Family Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
| | - Camilla Giambelli
- Department of Surgery, Molecular Oncology Program, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA
| | - Avencia Sanchez-Mejias
- Department of Surgery, Molecular Oncology Program, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA
| | - Julie A Gosse
- Department of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
| | - Carmen J Marsit
- Department of Community and Family Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
| | - Margaret R Karagas
- Department of Community and Family Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
| | - David J Robbins
- Department of Surgery, Molecular Oncology Program, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA
- Department of Surgery, Molecular Oncology Program, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA
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95
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Ahir BK, Sanders AP, Rager JE, Fry RC. Systems biology and birth defects prevention: blockade of the glucocorticoid receptor prevents arsenic-induced birth defects. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2013; 121:332-8. [PMID: 23458687 PMCID: PMC3616967 DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1205659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2012] [Accepted: 12/21/2012] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The biological mechanisms by which environmental metals are associated with birth defects are largely unknown. Systems biology-based approaches may help to identify key pathways that mediate metal-induced birth defects as well as potential targets for prevention. OBJECTIVES First, we applied a novel computational approach to identify a prioritized biological pathway that associates metals with birth defects. Second, in a laboratory setting, we sought to determine whether inhibition of the identified pathway prevents developmental defects. METHODS Seven environmental metals were selected for inclusion in the computational analysis: arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, nickel, and selenium. We used an in silico strategy to predict genes and pathways associated with both metal exposure and developmental defects. The most significant pathway was identified and tested using an in ovo whole chick embryo culture assay. We further evaluated the role of the pathway as a mediator of metal-induced toxicity using the in vitro midbrain micromass culture assay. RESULTS The glucocorticoid receptor pathway was computationally predicted to be a key mediator of multiple metal-induced birth defects. In the chick embryo model, structural malformations induced by inorganic arsenic (iAs) were prevented when signaling of the glucocorticoid receptor pathway was inhibited. Further, glucocorticoid receptor inhibition demonstrated partial to complete protection from both iAs- and cadmium-induced neurodevelopmental toxicity in vitro. CONCLUSIONS Our findings highlight a novel approach to computationally identify a targeted biological pathway for examining birth defects prevention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bhavesh K Ahir
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA
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96
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Hawkesworth S, Wagatsuma Y, Kippler M, Fulford AJC, Arifeen SE, Persson LA, Moore SE, Vahter M. Early exposure to toxic metals has a limited effect on blood pressure or kidney function in later childhood, rural Bangladesh. Int J Epidemiol 2013; 42:176-85. [PMID: 23243118 PMCID: PMC3600625 DOI: 10.1093/ije/dys215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/13/2012] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chronic exposure to toxic metals such as arsenic and cadmium has been implicated in the development of kidney and cardiovascular diseases but few studies have directly measured exposure during inutero and early child development. METHODS We investigated the impact of exposure to arsenic (mainly in drinking water) and cadmium (mainly in rice) during pregnancy on blood pressure and kidney function at 4.5 years of age in rural Bangladesh. The effect of arsenic exposure in infancy was also assessed. RESULTS Within a cohort of 1887 children recruited into the MINIMat study, exposure to arsenic (maternal urinary arsenic, U-As), but not cadmium, during in utero development was associated with a minimal increase in blood pressure at 4.5 years. Each 1 mg/l increase in pregnancy U-As was associated with 3.69 mmHg (95% CI: 0.74, 6.63; P: 0.01) increase in child systolic and a 2.91 mmHg (95% CI: 0.41, 5.42; P: 0.02) increase in child diastolic blood pressure. Similarly, a 1 mg/l increase in child U-As at 18 months of age was associated with a 8.25 mmHg (95% CI: 1.37, 15.1; P: 0.02) increase in systolic blood pressure at 4.5 years. There was also a marginal inverse association between infancy U-As and glomerular filtration rate at 4.5 years (-33.4 ml/min/1.72 m(2); 95% CI: -70.2, 3.34; P: 0.08). No association was observed between early arsenic or cadmium exposure and kidney volume at 4.5 years assessed by ultrasound. CONCLUSIONS These modest effect sizes provide some evidence that arsenic exposure in early life has long-term consequences for blood pressure and maybe kidney function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Hawkesworth
- Medical Research Council International Nutrition Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
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97
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Kippler M, Wagatsuma Y, Rahman A, Nermell B, Persson LÅ, Raqib R, Vahter M. Environmental exposure to arsenic and cadmium during pregnancy and fetal size: A longitudinal study in rural Bangladesh. Reprod Toxicol 2012; 34:504-11. [DOI: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2012.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2012] [Revised: 08/07/2012] [Accepted: 08/21/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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98
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Vall O, Gómez-Culebras M, Garcia-Algar O, Joya X, Velez D, Rodríguez-Carrasco E, Puig C. Assessment of prenatal exposure to arsenic in Tenerife Island. PLoS One 2012; 7:e50463. [PMID: 23209747 PMCID: PMC3508998 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0050463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2012] [Accepted: 10/22/2012] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Increasing awareness of the potential chronic health effects of arsenic (As) at low exposure levels has motivated efforts to better understand impaired child development during pregnancy by biomarkers of exposure. The aims of this study were to evaluate the prenatal exposure to As by analysis of an alternative matrix (meconium), to examine its effects on neonatal outcomes and investigate the association with maternal lifestyle and dietary habits during pregnancy. METHODS A transversal descriptive study was conducted in Tenerife (Spain). A total of 96 mother-child pairs participated in the study. A questionnaire on sociodemographic, lifestyle and dietary habits during pregnancy was administered the day after the delivery. Analysis of total As in meconium was performed by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer. RESULTS Total As was detected in 37 (38.5%) meconium samples. The univariate logistic regression model indicates that prenatal exposure to As was associated with a low intake of eggs per week (OR 0.56; CI (95%): 0.34-0.94) during pregnancy. Conversely, frequent intake of vegetables was associated with prenatal As exposure (OR: 1.19; CI (95%): 1.01-1.41) and frequent intake of processed meat (as bacon, Frankfurt's sausage, and hamburger) shows a trend to As prenatal exposure (OR: 8.54; CI (95%): 0.80-90.89). The adjusted multivariate logistic regression model indicates that only frequent intake of vegetables maintains the association (OR: 1.31; CI (95%): 1.02-1.68). CONCLUSION The studied population presented a low As exposure and was not associated with neonatal effects. Maternal consumption of vegetables during pregnancy was associated with detectable meconium As levels; however the concentration detected in meconium was too low to be considered a major public health concern in this geographical area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oriol Vall
- Unitat de Recerca Infància i Entorn (URIE), Institut Hospital del Mar d’Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain
- Red Samid, Retic, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Servei de Pediatria, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Oscar Garcia-Algar
- Unitat de Recerca Infància i Entorn (URIE), Institut Hospital del Mar d’Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain
- Red Samid, Retic, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Servei de Pediatria, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Xavier Joya
- Unitat de Recerca Infància i Entorn (URIE), Institut Hospital del Mar d’Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain
- Red Samid, Retic, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Dinoraz Velez
- Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IATA-CSIC), Valencia, Spain
| | | | - Carme Puig
- Unitat de Recerca Infància i Entorn (URIE), Institut Hospital del Mar d’Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain
- Red Samid, Retic, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
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Guan H, Piao F, Zhang X, Li X, Li Q, Xu L, Kitamura F, Yokoyama K. Prenatal exposure to arsenic and its effects on fetal development in the general population of Dalian. Biol Trace Elem Res 2012; 149:10-5. [PMID: 22451376 DOI: 10.1007/s12011-012-9396-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2012] [Accepted: 03/15/2012] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
To evaluate prenatal exposure to arsenic in the general population and its effects on birth size, we conducted a cross-sectional study in Dalian, China. Arsenic concentration in maternal and cord blood was detected by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and its effects on birth size were analyzed by multivariate analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. Arsenic concentrations in cord blood were significantly lower than those in maternal blood. A significant positive correlation was shown between maternal and cord blood arsenic concentrations. Maternal arsenic concentration was negatively associated with birth weight, height and chest circumference, and fetal arsenic concentration was negatively associated with head circumference. Our results indicate that arsenic exposure at environmental levels in uterus may pose adverse effects on fetal development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huai Guan
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, No. 210 Hospital of PLA, Dalian, Liaoning, China
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Tsang V, Fry RC, Niculescu MD, Rager JE, Saunders J, Paul DS, Zeisel SH, Waalkes MP, Stýblo M, Drobná Z. The epigenetic effects of a high prenatal folate intake in male mouse fetuses exposed in utero to arsenic. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 2012; 264:439-50. [PMID: 22959928 DOI: 10.1016/j.taap.2012.08.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2012] [Revised: 08/20/2012] [Accepted: 08/21/2012] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Inorganic arsenic (iAs) is a complete transplacental carcinogen in mice. Previous studies have demonstrated that in utero exposure to iAs promotes cancer in adult mouse offspring, possibly acting through epigenetic mechanisms. Humans and rodents enzymatically convert iAs to its methylated metabolites. This reaction requires S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) as methyl group donor. SAM is also required for DNA methylation. Supplementation with folate, a major dietary source of methyl groups for SAM synthesis, has been shown to modify iAs metabolism and the adverse effects of iAs exposure. However, effects of gestational folate supplementation on iAs metabolism and fetal DNA methylation have never been thoroughly examined. In the present study, pregnant CD1 mice were fed control (i.e. normal folate, or 2.2 mg/kg) or high folate diet (11 mg/kg) from gestational day (GD) 5 to 18 and drank water with 0 or 85 ppm of As (as arsenite) from GD8 to 18. The exposure to iAs significantly decreased body weight of GD18 fetuses and increased both SAM and S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) concentrations in fetal livers. High folate intake lowered the burden of total arsenic in maternal livers but did not prevent the effects of iAs exposure on fetal weight or hepatic SAM and SAH concentrations. In fact, combined folate-iAs exposure caused further significant body weight reduction. Notably, iAs exposure alone had little effect on DNA methylation in fetal livers. In contrast, the combined folate-iAs exposure changed the CpG island methylation in 2,931 genes, including genes known to be imprinted. Most of these genes were associated with neurodevelopment, cancer, cell cycle, and signaling networks. The canonical Wnt-signaling pathway, which regulates fetal development, was among the most affected biological pathways. Taken together, our results suggest that a combined in utero exposure to iAs and a high folate intake may adversely influence DNA methylation profiles and weight of fetuses, compromising fetal development and possibly increasing the risk for early-onset of disease in offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verne Tsang
- Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
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