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Boyd R, McMullen H, Beqaj H, Kalfa D. Environmental Exposures and Congenital Heart Disease. Pediatrics 2022; 149:183839. [PMID: 34972224 DOI: 10.1542/peds.2021-052151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common congenital abnormality worldwide, affecting 8 to 12 infants per 1000 births globally and causing >40% of prenatal deaths. However, its causes remain mainly unknown, with only up to 15% of CHD cases having a determined genetic cause. Exploring the complex relationship between genetics and environmental exposures is key in understanding the multifactorial nature of the development of CHD. Multiple population-level association studies have been conducted on maternal environmental exposures and their association with CHD, including evaluating the effect of maternal disease, medication exposure, environmental pollution, and tobacco and alcohol use on the incidence of CHD. However, these studies have been done in a siloed manner, with few examining the interplay between multiple environmental exposures. Here, we broadly and qualitatively review the current literature on maternal and paternal prenatal exposures and their association with CHD. We propose using the framework of the emerging field of the exposome, the environmental complement to the genome, to review all internal and external prenatal environmental exposures and identify potentiating or alleviating synergy between exposures. Finally, we propose mechanistic pathways through which susceptibility to development of CHD may be induced via the totality of prenatal environmental exposures, including the interplay between placental and cardiac development and the internal vasculature and placental morphology in early stages of pregnancy.
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Patel J, Nembhard WN, Politis MD, Rocheleau CM, Langlois PH, Shaw GM, Romitti PA, Gilboa SM, Desrosiers TA, Insaf T, Lupo PJ. Maternal occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and the risk of isolated congenital heart defects among offspring. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2020; 186:109550. [PMID: 32335433 PMCID: PMC8756335 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.109550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2020] [Revised: 04/07/2020] [Accepted: 04/15/2020] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Although there is evidence in experimental model systems that exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is linked with congenital heart defects (CHDs), few studies have examined the association in humans. We conducted a case-control study to examine the association between maternal exposure to PAHs and CHDs in offspring using data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS) (1997-2011). METHODS We obtained detailed information on maternal occupation during the month before to three months after conception. Expert raters, masked to case-control status, assessed job descriptions to assign categorical levels of exposure. Categories were quantitatively mapped to estimate cumulative exposure to PAHs, incorporating exposure intensity, frequency, work duration, and work hours. Quartiles were generated for cumulative maternal exposure to PAHs. Crude and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using unconditional logistic regression for quartiles of PAH exposure and six CHD groupings (e.g. conotruncal) and specific subtypes (e.g. tetralogy of Fallot [ToF]). Final models were adjusted for maternal age, race/ethnicity, education, smoking, anticonvulsant use, folic acid supplementation, and study center. RESULTS There were 4,775 case and 7,734 control infants eligible for the study. The prevalence of occupational exposure to PAHs was 10.2% among both case and control mothers. In adjusted analysis, compared to mothers with no occupational PAH exposure, those in the highest quartile of exposure were more likely to have offspring in the conotruncal heart defects group (OR 1.41; 95% CI 1.00-2.00), and with ToF (OR 1.83; 95% CI 1.21-2.78). CONCLUSIONS Women in the highest quartile of estimated cumulative occupational PAH exposure during early pregnancy were more likely to have offspring with conotruncal heart defects, specifically ToF, compared to women with no occupational PAH exposure. Other comparisons between PAHs and other CHDs subgroups did not show any statistically precise associations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenil Patel
- Department of Epidemiology, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA; Arkansas Center for Birth Defects Research and Prevention, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA.
| | - Wendy N Nembhard
- Department of Epidemiology, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA; Arkansas Center for Birth Defects Research and Prevention, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA
| | - Maria D Politis
- Department of Epidemiology, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA; Arkansas Center for Birth Defects Research and Prevention, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA
| | - Carissa M Rocheleau
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Peter H Langlois
- Birth Defects Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch, Texas Department of State Health Services, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Gary M Shaw
- Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Paul A Romitti
- Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Suzanne M Gilboa
- National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Tania A Desrosiers
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Tabassum Insaf
- Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology, Center for Environmental Health, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY, USA; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University at Albany, Rensselaer, NY, USA
| | - Philip J Lupo
- Department of Pediatrics, Section of Hematology-Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
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