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Safarlou CW, Jongsma KR, Vermeulen R. Reconceptualizing and Defining Exposomics within Environmental Health: Expanding the Scope of Health Research. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2024; 132:95001. [PMID: 39331035 PMCID: PMC11430758 DOI: 10.1289/ehp14509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/28/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Exposomics, the study of the exposome, is flourishing, but the field is not well defined. The term "exposome" refers to all environmental influences and associated biological responses throughout the lifespan. However, this definition is very similar to that of the term "environment"-the external elements and conditions that surround and affect the life and development of an organism. Consequently, the exposome seems to be nothing more than a synonym for the environment, and exposomics a synonym for environmental research. As a result, some have rebranded their "standard" environmental health research with the neologistic exposome term, whereas others ignore or seek to abandon the seemingly redundant concept of the exposome. OBJECTIVES We argue that exposomics needs to sharpen its mission focus to counteract this apparent redundancy. Exposomics should be defined as a research program in environmental health aimed at enabling a comprehensive and discovery-driven approach to identifying environmental determinants of human health. Similar to the aim of the Human Genome Project, exposomics aims to analyze the complete complexity of exposures and their corresponding biological responses. Exposomics' primary premise is that the existence of undiscovered, potentially interconnected, nongenetic (environmental) risk factors for health necessitates a comprehensive discovery-driven analysis approach. DISCUSSION We argue that exposomics researchers should adopt our reconceptualization of exposomics and focus on the productiveness and integrity of their research program: its purpose and principles. We suggest that exposomics researchers should coordinate the writing of reviews that assess the program's productiveness and integrity, as well as provide a platform for exposomics researchers to define their vision for the field. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP14509.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caspar W Safarlou
- Department of Global Public Health and Bioethics, Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Karin R Jongsma
- Department of Global Public Health and Bioethics, Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Roel Vermeulen
- Department of Global Public Health and Bioethics, Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
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2
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Foreman AL, Warth B, Hessel EVS, Price EJ, Schymanski EL, Cantelli G, Parkinson H, Hecht H, Klánová J, Vlaanderen J, Hilscherova K, Vrijheid M, Vineis P, Araujo R, Barouki R, Vermeulen R, Lanone S, Brunak S, Sebert S, Karjalainen T. Adopting Mechanistic Molecular Biology Approaches in Exposome Research for Causal Understanding. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:7256-7269. [PMID: 38641325 PMCID: PMC11064223 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c07961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Revised: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/21/2024]
Abstract
Through investigating the combined impact of the environmental exposures experienced by an individual throughout their lifetime, exposome research provides opportunities to understand and mitigate negative health outcomes. While current exposome research is driven by epidemiological studies that identify associations between exposures and effects, new frameworks integrating more substantial population-level metadata, including electronic health and administrative records, will shed further light on characterizing environmental exposure risks. Molecular biology offers methods and concepts to study the biological and health impacts of exposomes in experimental and computational systems. Of particular importance is the growing use of omics readouts in epidemiological and clinical studies. This paper calls for the adoption of mechanistic molecular biology approaches in exposome research as an essential step in understanding the genotype and exposure interactions underlying human phenotypes. A series of recommendations are presented to make the necessary and appropriate steps to move from exposure association to causation, with a huge potential to inform precision medicine and population health. This includes establishing hypothesis-driven laboratory testing within the exposome field, supported by appropriate methods to read across from model systems research to human.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy L. Foreman
- European
Molecular Biology Laboratory & European Bioinformatics Institute
(EMBL-EBI), Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton CB10 1SD, U.K.
| | - Benedikt Warth
- Department
of Food Chemistry and Toxicology, University
of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Ellen V. S. Hessel
- National
Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Antonie van Leeuwenhoeklaan 9, 3721 MA Bilthoven, The Netherlands
| | - Elliott J. Price
- RECETOX,
Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlarska 2, Brno 60200, Czech Republic
| | - Emma L. Schymanski
- Luxembourg
Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University
of Luxembourg, 6 avenue
du Swing, L-4367 Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Gaia Cantelli
- European
Molecular Biology Laboratory & European Bioinformatics Institute
(EMBL-EBI), Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton CB10 1SD, U.K.
| | - Helen Parkinson
- European
Molecular Biology Laboratory & European Bioinformatics Institute
(EMBL-EBI), Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton CB10 1SD, U.K.
| | - Helge Hecht
- RECETOX,
Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlarska 2, Brno 60200, Czech Republic
| | - Jana Klánová
- RECETOX,
Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlarska 2, Brno 60200, Czech Republic
| | - Jelle Vlaanderen
- Institute
for Risk Assessment Sciences, Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 8 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Klara Hilscherova
- RECETOX,
Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlarska 2, Brno 60200, Czech Republic
| | - Martine Vrijheid
- Institute
for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona
Biomedical Research Park (PRBB), Doctor Aiguader, 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat
Pompeu Fabra, Carrer
de la Mercè, 12, Ciutat Vella, 08002 Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red
Epidemiología
y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Av. Monforte de Lemos, 3-5. Pebellón 11, Planta 0, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Paolo Vineis
- Department
of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
| | - Rita Araujo
- European Commission, DG Research and Innovation, Sq. Frère-Orban 8, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
| | | | - Roel Vermeulen
- Institute
for Risk Assessment Sciences, Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 8 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Sophie Lanone
- Univ Paris Est Creteil, INSERM, IMRB, F-94010 Creteil, France
| | - Søren Brunak
- Novo
Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3B, 2200 København, Denmark
| | - Sylvain Sebert
- Research
Unit of Population Health, University of
Oulu, P.O. Box 8000, FI-90014 Oulu, Finland
| | - Tuomo Karjalainen
- European Commission, DG Research and Innovation, Sq. Frère-Orban 8, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
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Lester BM, Camerota M, Everson TM, Shuster CL, Marsit CJ. Toward a more holistic approach to the study of exposures and child outcomes. Epigenomics 2024; 16:635-651. [PMID: 38482639 PMCID: PMC11157992 DOI: 10.2217/epi-2023-0424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Aim: The current work was designed to demonstrate the application of the exposome framework in examining associations between exposures and children's long-term neurodevelopmental and behavioral outcomes. Methods: Longitudinal data were collected from birth through age 6 from 402 preterm infants. Three statistical methods were utilized to demonstrate the exposome framework: exposome-wide association study, cumulative exposure and machine learning models, with and without epigenetic data. Results: Each statistical approach answered a distinct research question regarding the impact of exposures on longitudinal child outcomes. Findings highlight associations between exposures, epigenetics and executive function. Conclusion: Findings demonstrate how an exposome-based approach can be utilized to understand relationships between internal (e.g., DNA methylation) and external (e.g., prenatal risk) exposures and long-term developmental outcomes in preterm children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barry M Lester
- Department of Pediatrics, Brown Alpert Medical School & Women & Infants Hospital, Providence, RI 02905, USA
- Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, Brown Alpert Medical School & Women & Infants Hospital, Providence, RI 02905, USA
- Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, Brown Alpert Medical School, Providence, RI 02905, USA
| | - Marie Camerota
- Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, Brown Alpert Medical School & Women & Infants Hospital, Providence, RI 02905, USA
- Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, Brown Alpert Medical School, Providence, RI 02905, USA
| | - Todd M Everson
- Department of Environmental Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Coral L Shuster
- Department of Pediatrics, Brown Alpert Medical School & Women & Infants Hospital, Providence, RI 02905, USA
- Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, Brown Alpert Medical School & Women & Infants Hospital, Providence, RI 02905, USA
| | - Carmen J Marsit
- Department of Environmental Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
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ZHI M, WANG J. [Advances in the applications of exposomics in the identification of environmental pollutants and their health hazards]. Se Pu 2024; 42:142-149. [PMID: 38374594 PMCID: PMC10877475 DOI: 10.3724/sp.j.1123.2023.12011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Environmental pollution has become a prominent global problem, and the potential health hazards of pollutants have caused widespread concern. However, revealing the relationship between complex-pollutant exposure and disease development remains an immense challenge. The core of environmental-health research and risk assessment is the identification of contaminants and their effects. Exposomics provides a new approach in the study of the relationship between environmental factors and human health. Both "top-down" and "bottom-up" strategies are employed in exposomics research. The development of new technologies for chemical detection and "multi-omics" has greatly facilitated the implementation of these strategies. Exposomics focuses on the measurement of an individual's lifelong exposure and aims to identify the health effects of such exposure. It involves the dynamic monitoring of external and internal exposure levels at different stages of life through traditional biomonitoring and exposomic methods. It also includes the identification of biomarkers, which indicate specific environmental exposures and the adverse effects of these exposures on health. Compared with traditional environmental-health studies, exposomics can more accurately reflect the diversity of exposure factors such as pollutants, natural factors, and lifestyles in the real environment, as well as the complexity of their in vivo processes and the responses they trigger in an organism. Powerful chemical analytical tools such as high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) are widely used in studies related to the field of exposomics. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has been applied in the detection and analysis of environmental pollutants. Proteomics and metabolomics, as two important tools for biomarker identification and effects analysis, are widely used to explore the relationship between environmental factors and diseases. Pollutants can lead to pathological changes and even toxic effects by interacting with proteins. In the case of mixed exposure, some contaminants may present joint toxicity. The interaction between contaminants may change their environmental behavior or the amount of each contaminant that enters the human body, which, in turn, affects their health effects.
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Münzel T, Sørensen M, Hahad O, Nieuwenhuijsen M, Daiber A. The contribution of the exposome to the burden of cardiovascular disease. Nat Rev Cardiol 2023; 20:651-669. [PMID: 37165157 DOI: 10.1038/s41569-023-00873-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Large epidemiological and health impact assessment studies at the global scale, such as the Global Burden of Disease project, indicate that chronic non-communicable diseases, such as atherosclerosis and diabetes mellitus, caused almost two-thirds of the annual global deaths in 2020. By 2030, 77% of all deaths are expected to be caused by non-communicable diseases. Although this increase is mainly due to the ageing of the general population in Western societies, other reasons include the increasing effects of soil, water, air and noise pollution on health, together with the effects of other environmental risk factors such as climate change, unhealthy city designs (including lack of green spaces), unhealthy lifestyle habits and psychosocial stress. The exposome concept was established in 2005 as a new strategy to study the effect of the environment on health. The exposome describes the harmful biochemical and metabolic changes that occur in our body owing to the totality of different environmental exposures throughout the life course, which ultimately lead to adverse health effects and premature deaths. In this Review, we describe the exposome concept with a focus on environmental physical and chemical exposures and their effects on the burden of cardiovascular disease. We discuss selected exposome studies and highlight the relevance of the exposome concept for future health research as well as preventive medicine. We also discuss the challenges and limitations of exposome studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Münzel
- Department of Cardiology, Cardiology I, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany.
- German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), Partner Site Rhine-Main, Mainz, Germany.
| | - Mette Sørensen
- Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Natural Science and Environment, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Omar Hahad
- Department of Cardiology, Cardiology I, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany
- German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), Partner Site Rhine-Main, Mainz, Germany
| | - Mark Nieuwenhuijsen
- Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB), Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), PRBB building (Mar Campus), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Andreas Daiber
- Department of Cardiology, Cardiology I, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany
- German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), Partner Site Rhine-Main, Mainz, Germany
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Mandelblatt JS, Ruterbusch JJ, Thompson HS, Zhou X, Bethea TN, Adams-Campbell L, Purrington K, Schwartz AG. Association between major discrimination and deficit accumulation in African American cancer survivors: The Detroit Research on Cancer Survivors Study. Cancer 2023; 129:1557-1568. [PMID: 36935617 PMCID: PMC10568940 DOI: 10.1002/cncr.34673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Revised: 11/25/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 03/21/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Discrimination can adversely affect health and accelerate aging, but little is known about these relationships in cancer survivors. This study examines associations of discrimination and aging among self-identified African American survivors. METHODS A population-based sample of 2232 survivors 20-79 years old at diagnosis were enrolled within 5 years of breast (n = 787), colorectal (n = 227), lung (n = 223), or prostate (n = 995) cancer between 2017 and 2022. Surveys were completed post-active therapy. A deficit accumulation index measured aging-related disease and function (score range, 0-1, where <0.20 is robust, 0.20 to <0.35 is pre-frail, and 0.35+ is frail; 0.06 is a large clinically meaningful difference). The discrimination scale assessed ever experiencing major discrimination and seven types of events (score, 0-7). Linear regression tested the association of discrimination and deficit accumulation, controlling for age, time from diagnosis, cancer type, stage and therapy, and sociodemographic variables. RESULTS Survivors were an average of 62 years old (SD, 9.6), 63.2% reported ever experiencing major discrimination, with an average of 2.4 (SD, 1.7) types of discrimination events. Only 24.4% had deficit accumulation scores considered robust (mean score, 0.30 [SD, 0.13]). Among those who reported ever experiencing major discrimination, survivors with four to seven types of discrimination events (vs. 0-1) had a large, clinically meaningful increase in adjusted deficits (0.062, p < .001) and this pattern was consistent across cancer types. CONCLUSION African American cancer survivors have high deficit accumulated index scores, and experiences of major discrimination were positively associated with these deficits. Future studies are needed to understand the intersectionality between aging, discrimination, and cancer survivorship among diverse populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeanne S. Mandelblatt
- Department of Oncology, Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
- Georgetown Lombardi Institute for Cancer and Aging Research, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Julie J. Ruterbusch
- Department of Oncology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA
- Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit, Michigan, USA
| | - Hayley S. Thompson
- Department of Oncology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA
- Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit, Michigan, USA
| | - Xingtao Zhou
- Department of Oncology, Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, Bioinformatics and Biomathematics, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
- Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities Research, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Traci N. Bethea
- Department of Oncology, Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Lucile Adams-Campbell
- Department of Oncology, Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Kristen Purrington
- Department of Oncology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA
- Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit, Michigan, USA
| | - Ann G. Schwartz
- Department of Oncology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA
- Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit, Michigan, USA
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Folorunso OM, Bocca B, Ruggieri F, Frazzoli C, Chijioke-Nwauche I, Orisakwe OE. Heavy metals and inflammatory, oxidative/antioxidant and DNA damage biomarkers among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Niger Delta, Nigeria. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND HEALTH. PART A, TOXIC/HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING 2023; 58:295-313. [PMID: 36876887 DOI: 10.1080/10934529.2023.2185004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Revised: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
This study evaluated the association of heavy metals (HMs) and effect biomarkers (inflammation, oxidative stress/antioxidant capacity and DNA damage) among people living with HIV/AIDS (PHWHA) in Niger Delta area, Nigeria. Blood levels of lead (BPb), cadmium (BCd), copper (BCu), zinc (BZn), iron (BFe), C-reactive protein (CRP), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), Interferon-γ (IFN-γ), Malondialdehyde (MDA), Glutathione (GSH) and 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) were determined in a total of 185 participants, 104 HIV-positive and 81 HIV-negative sampled in both Niger Delta and non-Niger Delta regions. BCd (p < 0.001) and BPb (p = 0.139) were higher in HIV-positive subjects compared to HIV-negative controls; on the contrary, BCu, BZn and BFe levels were lower (p < 0.001) in HIV-positive subjects compared to HIV-negative controls. The Niger Delta population had higher levels of heavy metals (p < 0.01) compared to non-Niger Delta residents. CRP and 8-OHdG were higher (p < 0.001) in HIV-positive than in HIV-negative subjects and in Niger-Delta than in non-Niger Delta residents. BCu had significant positive dose-response relationship with CRP (61.9%, p = 0.063) and GSH (1.64%, p = 0.035) levels in HIV-positive subjects, and negative response with MDA levels (26.6%, p < 0.001). Periodic assessment of HMs levels among PLWHA is recommended.
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Affiliation(s)
- Opeyemi M Folorunso
- African Centre of Excellence for Public Health and Toxicological Research (ACE-PUTOR), University of Port Harcourt, PMB, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
| | - Beatrice Bocca
- Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Flavia Ruggieri
- Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Chiara Frazzoli
- Department for Cardiovascular, Endocrine-Metabolic Diseas, and Aging, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Ifeyinwa Chijioke-Nwauche
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
| | - Orish E Orisakwe
- African Centre of Excellence for Public Health and Toxicological Research (ACE-PUTOR), University of Port Harcourt, PMB, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
- Department of Experimental Pharmacology & Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
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8
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Anesti O, Papaioannou N, Gabriel C, Karakoltzidis A, Dzhedzheia V, Petridis I, Stratidakis A, Dickinson M, Horvat M, Snoj Tratnik J, Tsatsakis A, Karakitsios S, Sarigiannis DA. An exposome connectivity paradigm for the mechanistic assessment of the effects of prenatal and early life exposure to metals on neurodevelopment. Front Public Health 2023; 10:871218. [PMID: 36699871 PMCID: PMC9869756 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.871218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2022] [Accepted: 09/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The exposome paradigm through an integrated approach to investigating the impact of perinatal exposure to metals on child neurodevelopment in two cohorts carried out in Slovenia (PHIME cohort) and Greece (HERACLES cohort) respectively, is presented herein. Heavy metals are well-known neurotoxicants with well-established links to impaired neurodevelopment. The links between in utero and early-life exposure to metals, metabolic pathway dysregulation, and neurodevelopmental disorders were drawn through urinary and plasma untargeted metabolomics analysis, followed by the combined application of in silico and biostatistical methods. Heavy metal prenatal and postnatal exposure was evaluated, including parameters indirectly related to exposure and health adversities, such as sociodemographic and anthropometric parameters and dietary factors. The primary outcome of the study was that the identified perturbations related to the TCA cycle are mainly associated with impaired mitochondrial respiration, which is detrimental to cellular homeostasis and functionality; this is further potentiated by the capacity of heavy metals to induce oxidative stress. Insufficient production of energy from the mitochondria during the perinatal period is associated with developmental disorders in children. The HERACLES cohort included more detailed data regarding diet and sociodemographic status of the studied population, allowing the identification of a broader spectrum of effect modifiers, such as the beneficial role of a diet rich in antioxidants such as lycopene and ω-3 fatty acids, the negative effect the consumption of food items such as pork and chicken meat has or the multiple impacts of fish consumption. Beyond diet, several other factors have been proven influential for child neurodevelopment, such as the proximity to pollution sources (e.g., waste treatment site) and the broader living environment, including socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Overall, our results demonstrate the utility of exposome-wide association studies (EWAS) toward understanding the relationships among the multiple factors that determine human exposure and the underlying biology, reflected as omics markers of effect on neurodevelopment during childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ourania Anesti
- HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece,Centre of Toxicology Science and Research, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
| | - Nafsika Papaioannou
- HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece,Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Catherine Gabriel
- HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece,Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Achilleas Karakoltzidis
- HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece,Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Vazha Dzhedzheia
- HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece,Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Ioannis Petridis
- HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece,Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Antonios Stratidakis
- Science, Technology, and Society Department, Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori (IUSS), University School for Advanced Study, Pavia, Italy
| | | | - Milena Horvat
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Josef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Janja Snoj Tratnik
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Josef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Aristidis Tsatsakis
- Centre of Toxicology Science and Research, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
| | - Spyros Karakitsios
- HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece,Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Dimosthenis A. Sarigiannis
- HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece,Centre of Toxicology Science and Research, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece,Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece,*Correspondence: Dimosthenis A. Sarigiannis
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9
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Ding E, Wang Y, Liu J, Tang S, Shi X. A review on the application of the exposome paradigm to unveil the environmental determinants of age-related diseases. Hum Genomics 2022; 16:54. [DOI: 10.1186/s40246-022-00428-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
AbstractAge-related diseases account for almost half of all diseases among adults worldwide, and their incidence is substantially affected by the exposome, which is the sum of all exogenous and endogenous environmental exposures and the human body’s response to these exposures throughout the entire lifespan. Herein, we perform a comprehensive review of the epidemiological literature to determine the key elements of the exposome that affect the development of age-related diseases and the roles of aging hallmarks in this process. We find that most exposure assessments in previous aging studies have used a reductionist approach, whereby the effect of only a single environmental factor or a specific class of environmental factors on the development of age-related diseases has been examined. As such, there is a lack of a holistic and unbiased understanding of the effect of multiple environmental factors on the development of age-related diseases. To address this, we propose several research strategies based on an exposomic framework that could advance our understanding—in particular, from a mechanistic perspective—of how environmental factors affect the development of age-related diseases. We discuss the statistical methods and other methods that have been used in exposome-wide association studies, with a particular focus on multiomics technologies. We also address future challenges and opportunities in the realm of multidisciplinary approaches and genome–exposome epidemiology. Furthermore, we provide perspectives on precise public health services for vulnerable populations, public communications, the integration of risk exposure information, and the bench-to-bedside translation of research on age-related diseases.
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10
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Abdelzaher H, Tawfik SM, Nour A, Abdelkader S, Elbalkiny ST, Abdelkader M, Abbas WA, Abdelnaser A. Climate change, human health, and the exposome: Utilizing OMIC technologies to navigate an era of uncertainty. Front Public Health 2022; 10:973000. [PMID: 36211706 PMCID: PMC9533016 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.973000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 08/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Climate change is an anthropogenic phenomenon that is alarming scientists and non-scientists alike. The emission of greenhouse gases is causing the temperature of the earth to rise and this increase is accompanied by a multitude of climate change-induced environmental exposures with potential health impacts. Tracking human exposure has been a major research interest of scientists worldwide. This has led to the development of exposome studies that examine internal and external individual exposures over their lifetime and correlate them to health. The monitoring of health has also benefited from significant technological advances in the field of "omics" technologies that analyze physiological changes on the nucleic acid, protein, and metabolism levels, among others. In this review, we discuss various climate change-induced environmental exposures and their potential health implications. We also highlight the potential integration of the technological advancements in the fields of exposome tracking, climate monitoring, and omics technologies shedding light on important questions that need to be answered.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Anwar Abdelnaser
- Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology, The American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Egypt
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11
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Quantin P, Stricher M, Catoire S, Ficheux H, Egles C. Dermatokinetics: Advances and Experimental Models, Focus on Skin Metabolism. Curr Drug Metab 2022; 23:340-354. [PMID: 35585827 DOI: 10.2174/1389200223666220517114004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2021] [Revised: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Numerous dermal contact products, such as drugs or cosmetics, are applied on the skin, the first protective barrier to their entrance into the organism. These products contain various xenobiotic molecules that can penetrate the viable epidermis. Many studies have shown that keratinocyte metabolism could affect their behavior by biotransformation. While aiming for detoxification, toxic metabolites can be produced. These metabolites may react with biological macromolecules often leading to sensitization reactions. After passing through the epidermis, xenobiotics can reach the vascularized dermis and therefore be bioavailable and distributed into the entire organism. To highlight these mechanisms, dermatokinetics, based on the concept of pharmacokinetics, has been developed recently. It provides information on the action of xenobiotics that penetrate the organism through the dermal route. The purpose of this review is first to describe and synthesize the dermatokinetics mechanisms to consider when assessing the absorption of a xenobiotic through the skin. We focus on skin absorption and specifically on skin metabolism, the two main processes involved in dermatokinetics. In addition, experimental models and methods to assess dermatokinetics are described and discussed to select the most relevant method when evaluating, in a specific context, dermatokinetics parameters of a xenobiotic. We also discuss the limits of this approach as it is notably used for risk assessment in the industry where scenario studies generally focus only on one xenobiotic and do not consider interactions with the rest of the exposome. The hypothesis of adverse effects due to the combination of chemical substances in contact with individuals and not to a single molecule are being increasingly studied and embraced in the scientific community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Quantin
- UMR 7338 UTC-CNRS, BioMécanique et BioIngénierie, Université de Technologie de Compiègne, France
| | - Mathilde Stricher
- UMR 7338 UTC-CNRS, BioMécanique et BioIngénierie, Université de Technologie de Compiègne, France Biological Engineering
| | | | - Hervé Ficheux
- UMR 7338 UTC-CNRS, BioMécanique et BioIngénierie, Université de Technologie de Compiègne, France Biological Engineering
| | - Christophe Egles
- UMR 7338 UTC-CNRS, BioMécanique et BioIngénierie, Université de Technologie de Compiègne, France
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12
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Personalized Nutrition in the Management of Female Infertility: New Insights on Chronic Low-Grade Inflammation. Nutrients 2022; 14:nu14091918. [PMID: 35565885 PMCID: PMC9105997 DOI: 10.3390/nu14091918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2022] [Revised: 04/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/29/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Increasing evidence on the significance of nutrition in reproduction is emerging from both animal and human studies, suggesting a mutual association between nutrition and female fertility. Different “fertile” dietary patterns have been studied; however, in humans, conflicting results or weak correlations are often reported, probably because of the individual variations in genome, proteome, metabolome, and microbiome and the extent of exposure to different environmental conditions. In this scenario, “precision nutrition”, namely personalized dietary patterns based on deep phenotyping and on metabolomics, microbiome, and nutrigenetics of each case, might be more efficient for infertile patients than applying a generic nutritional approach. In this review, we report on new insights into the nutritional management of infertile patients, discussing the main nutrigenetic, nutrigenomic, and microbiomic aspects that should be investigated to achieve effective personalized nutritional interventions. Specifically, we will focus on the management of low-grade chronic inflammation, which is associated with several infertility-related diseases.
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13
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Avery CL, Howard AG, Ballou AF, Buchanan VL, Collins JM, Downie CG, Engel SM, Graff M, Highland HM, Lee MP, Lilly AG, Lu K, Rager JE, Staley BS, North KE, Gordon-Larsen P. Strengthening Causal Inference in Exposomics Research: Application of Genetic Data and Methods. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2022; 130:55001. [PMID: 35533073 PMCID: PMC9084332 DOI: 10.1289/ehp9098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2021] [Revised: 04/08/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Advances in technologies to measure a broad set of exposures have led to a range of exposome research efforts. Yet, these efforts have insufficiently integrated methods that incorporate genetic data to strengthen causal inference, despite evidence that many exposome-associated phenotypes are heritable. Objective: We demonstrate how integration of methods and study designs that incorporate genetic data can strengthen causal inference in exposomics research by helping address six challenges: reverse causation and unmeasured confounding, comprehensive examination of phenotypic effects, low efficiency, replication, multilevel data integration, and characterization of tissue-specific effects. Examples are drawn from studies of biomarkers and health behaviors, exposure domains where the causal inference methods we describe are most often applied. Discussion: Technological, computational, and statistical advances in genotyping, imputation, and analysis, combined with broad data sharing and cross-study collaborations, offer multiple opportunities to strengthen causal inference in exposomics research. Full application of these opportunities will require an expanded understanding of genetic variants that predict exposome phenotypes as well as an appreciation that the utility of genetic variants for causal inference will vary by exposure and may depend on large sample sizes. However, several of these challenges can be addressed through international scientific collaborations that prioritize data sharing. Ultimately, we anticipate that efforts to better integrate methods that incorporate genetic data will extend the reach of exposomics research by helping address the challenges of comprehensively measuring the exposome and its health effects across studies, the life course, and in varied contexts and diverse populations. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP9098.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christy L Avery
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Annie Green Howard
- Department of Biostatistics, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Anna F Ballou
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Victoria L Buchanan
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Jason M Collins
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Carolina G Downie
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Stephanie M Engel
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Mariaelisa Graff
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Heather M Highland
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Moa P Lee
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Adam G Lilly
- Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Sociology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Kun Lu
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Julia E Rager
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Brooke S Staley
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Kari E North
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Penny Gordon-Larsen
- Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
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14
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Price EJ, Vitale CM, Miller GW, David A, Barouki R, Audouze K, Walker DI, Antignac JP, Coumoul X, Bessonneau V, Klánová J. Merging the exposome into an integrated framework for "omics" sciences. iScience 2022; 25:103976. [PMID: 35310334 PMCID: PMC8924626 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.103976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
The exposome concept encourages holistic consideration of the non-genetic factors (environmental exposures including lifestyle) that influence an individual's health over their life course. However, disconnect between the concept and practical application has promoted divergent interpretations of the exposome across disciplines and reinforced separation of the environmental (emphasizing exposures) and biological (emphasizing responses) research communities. In particular, while knowledge of biological responses can help to distinguish actual (i.e. experienced) from potential exposures, the inclusion of endogenous processes has generated confusion about the position of the exposome in a multi-omics systems biology context. We propose a reattribution of "exposome" to exclusively represent the totality of contact with external factors that a biological entity experiences, and introduce the term "functional exposomics" to denote the systematic study of exposure-phenotype interaction. This reoriented definition of the exposome allows a more readily integrable dataset for multi-omics and systems biology research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elliott J. Price
- RECETOX, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlarska 2, Brno 60200, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Sports Studies, Masaryk University, Kamenice 753/5, Brno 62500, Czech Republic
| | - Chiara M. Vitale
- RECETOX, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlarska 2, Brno 60200, Czech Republic
| | - Gary W. Miller
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Arthur David
- Univ Rennes, EHESP, Inserm, Irset (Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail) – UMR_S 1085, Rennes 35000, France
| | - Robert Barouki
- Université de Paris, T3S, Inserm UMR S-1124, Paris 75006, France
- Service de Biochimie Métabolomique et Protéomique, Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades, AP-HP, Paris, France
| | - Karine Audouze
- Université de Paris, T3S, Inserm UMR S-1124, Paris 75006, France
| | - Douglas I. Walker
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Xavier Coumoul
- Université de Paris, T3S, Inserm UMR S-1124, Paris 75006, France
| | - Vincent Bessonneau
- Univ Rennes, EHESP, Inserm, Irset (Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail) – UMR_S 1085, Rennes 35000, France
- Silent Spring Institute, Newton, MA, USA
| | - Jana Klánová
- RECETOX, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlarska 2, Brno 60200, Czech Republic
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15
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van de Weijer MP, Baselmans BML, Hottenga JJ, Dolan CV, Willemsen G, Bartels M. Expanding the environmental scope: an environment-wide association study for mental well-being. JOURNAL OF EXPOSURE SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY 2022; 32:195-204. [PMID: 34127788 PMCID: PMC8920882 DOI: 10.1038/s41370-021-00346-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2020] [Revised: 05/18/2021] [Accepted: 05/25/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Identifying modifiable factors associated with well-being is of increased interest for public policy guidance. Developments in record linkage make it possible to identify what contributes to well-being from a myriad of factors. To this end, we link two large-scale data resources; the Geoscience and Health Cohort Consortium, a collection of geo-data, and the Netherlands Twin Register, which holds population-based well-being data. OBJECTIVE We perform an Environment-Wide Association Study (EnWAS), where we examine 139 neighbourhood-level environmental exposures in relation to well-being. METHODS First, we performed a generalized estimation equation regression (N = 11,975) to test for the effects of environmental exposures on well-being. Second, to account for multicollinearity amongst exposures, we performed principal component regression. Finally, using a genetically informative design, we examined whether environmental exposure is driven by genetic predisposition for well-being. RESULTS We identified 21 environmental factors that were associated with well-being in the domains: housing stock, income, core neighbourhood characteristics, livability, and socioeconomic status. Of these associations, socioeconomic status and safety are indicated as the most important factors to explain differences in well-being. No evidence of gene-environment correlation was found. SIGNIFICANCE These observed associations, especially neighbourhood safety, could be informative for policy makers and provide public policy guidance to improve well-being. Our results show that linking databases is a fruitful exercise to identify determinants of mental health that would remain unknown by a more unilateral approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margot P van de Weijer
- Department of Biological Psychology, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Bart M L Baselmans
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Jouke-Jan Hottenga
- Department of Biological Psychology, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Conor V Dolan
- Department of Biological Psychology, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Gonneke Willemsen
- Department of Biological Psychology, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Meike Bartels
- Department of Biological Psychology, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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16
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Barouki R, Audouze K, Becker C, Blaha L, Coumoul X, Karakitsios S, Klanova J, Miller GW, Price EJ, Sarigiannis D. The Exposome and Toxicology: A Win-Win Collaboration. Toxicol Sci 2022; 186:1-11. [PMID: 34878125 PMCID: PMC9019839 DOI: 10.1093/toxsci/kfab149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of the exposome concept has been one of the hallmarks of environmental and health research for the last decade. The exposome encompasses the life course environmental exposures including lifestyle factors from the prenatal period onwards. It has inspired many research programs and is expected to influence environmental and health research, practices, and policies. Yet, the links bridging toxicology and the exposome concept have not been well developed. In this review, we describe how the exposome framework can interface with and influence the field of toxicology, as well as how the field of toxicology can help advance the exposome field by providing the needed mechanistic understanding of the exposome impacts on health. Indeed, exposome-informed toxicology is expected to emphasize several orientations including (1) developing approaches integrating multiple stressors, in particular chemical mixtures, as well as the interaction of chemicals with other stressors, (2) using mechanistic frameworks such as the adverse outcome pathways to link the different stressors with toxicity outcomes, (3) characterizing the mechanistic basis of long-term effects by distinguishing different patterns of exposures and further exploring the environment-DNA interface through genetic and epigenetic studies, and (4) improving the links between environmental and human health, in particular through a stronger connection between alterations in our ecosystems and human toxicology. The exposome concept provides the linkage between the complex environment and contemporary mechanistic toxicology. What toxicology can bring to exposome characterization is a needed framework for mechanistic understanding and regulatory outcomes in risk assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Barouki
- Inserm UMR S-1124, Université de Paris, T3S, Paris F-75006, France
- Service de Biochimie métabolomique et protéomique, Hôpital Necker enfants malades, AP-HP, Paris, France
| | - Karine Audouze
- Inserm UMR S-1124, Université de Paris, T3S, Paris F-75006, France
| | - Christel Becker
- Inserm UMR S-1124, Université de Paris, T3S, Paris F-75006, France
| | - Ludek Blaha
- RECETOX, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno 60200, Czech Republic
| | - Xavier Coumoul
- Inserm UMR S-1124, Université de Paris, T3S, Paris F-75006, France
| | - Spyros Karakitsios
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 57001, Greece
- Enve.X, Thessaloniki 55133, Greece
| | - Jana Klanova
- RECETOX, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno 60200, Czech Republic
| | - Gary W Miller
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Elliott J Price
- RECETOX, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno 60200, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Sports Studies, Masaryk University, Brno 62500, Czech Republic
| | - Denis Sarigiannis
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 57001, Greece
- Enve.X, Thessaloniki 55133, Greece
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17
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Sun J, Fang R, Wang H, Xu DX, Yang J, Huang X, Cozzolino D, Fang M, Huang Y. A review of environmental metabolism disrupting chemicals and effect biomarkers associating disease risks: Where exposomics meets metabolomics. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2022; 158:106941. [PMID: 34689039 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 37.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Revised: 09/03/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Humans are exposed to an ever-increasing number of environmental toxicants, some of which have gradually been elucidated to be important risk factors for metabolic diseases, such as diabetes and obesity. These metabolism-sensitive diseases typically occur when key metabolic and signaling pathways were disrupted, which can be influenced by the exposure to contaminants such as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), along with genetic and lifestyle factors. This promotes the concept and research on environmental metabolism disrupting chemicals (MDCs). In addition, identifying endogenous biochemical markers of effect linked to disease states is becoming an important tool to screen the biological targets following environmental contaminant exposure, as well as to provide an overview of toxicity risk assessment. As such, the current review aims to contribute to the further understanding of exposome and human health and disease by characterizing environmental exposure and effect metabolic biomarkers. We summarized MDC-associated metabolic biomarkers in laboratory animal and human cohort studies using high throughput targeted and nontargeted metabolomics techniques. Contaminants including heavy metals and organohalogen compounds, especially EDCs, have been repetitively associated with metabolic disorders, whereas emerging contaminants such as perfluoroalkyl substances and microplastics have also been found to disrupt metabolism. In addition, we found major limitations in the effective identification of metabolic biomarkers especially in human studies, toxicological research on the mixed effect of environmental exposure has also been insufficient compared to the research on single chemicals. Thus, it is timely to call for research efforts dedicated to the study of combined effect and metabolic alterations for the better assessment of exposomic toxicology and health risks. Moreover, advanced computational and prediction tools, further validation of metabolic biomarkers, as well as systematic and integrative investigations are also needed in order to reliably identify novel biomarkers and elucidate toxicity mechanisms, and to further utilize exposome and metabolome profiling in public health and safety management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiachen Sun
- College of Marine Life Science, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China
| | - Runcheng Fang
- Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Hefei, China
| | - Hua Wang
- Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Hefei, China
| | - De-Xiang Xu
- Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Hefei, China
| | - Jing Yang
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Quality Control in Environmental, Monitoring, China National Environmental Monitoring Center, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaochen Huang
- School of Agriculture, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Daniel Cozzolino
- ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Uniquely Australian Foods, Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, Coopers Plans, Australia
| | - Mingliang Fang
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
| | - Yichao Huang
- Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Hefei, China.
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18
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The Residential Population Generator (RPGen): Parameterization of Residential, Demographic, and Physiological Data to Model Intraindividual Exposure, Dose, and Risk. TOXICS 2021; 9:toxics9110303. [PMID: 34822694 PMCID: PMC8625086 DOI: 10.3390/toxics9110303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2021] [Revised: 11/03/2021] [Accepted: 11/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Exposure to chemicals is influenced by associations between the individual's location and activities as well as demographic and physiological characteristics. Currently, many exposure models simulate individuals by drawing distributions from population-level data or use exposure factors for single individuals. The Residential Population Generator (RPGen) binds US surveys of individuals and households and combines the population with physiological characteristics to create a synthetic population. In general, the model must be supported by internal consistency; i.e., values that could have come from a single individual. In addition, intraindividual variation must be representative of the variation present in the modeled population. This is performed by linking individuals and similar households across income, location, family type, and house type. Physiological data are generated by linking census data to National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data with a model of interindividual variation of parameters used in toxicokinetic modeling. The final modeled population data parameters include characteristics of the individual's community (region, state, urban or rural), residence (size of property, size of home, number of rooms), demographics (age, ethnicity, income, gender), and physiology (body weight, skin surface area, breathing rate, cardiac output, blood volume, and volumes for body compartments and organs). RPGen output is used to support user-developed chemical exposure models that estimate intraindividual exposure in a desired population. By creating profiles and characteristics that determine exposure, synthetic populations produced by RPGen increases the ability of modelers to identify subgroups potentially vulnerable to chemical exposures. To demonstrate application, RPGen is used to estimate exposure to Toluene in an exposure modeling case example.
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19
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Zhang P, Carlsten C, Chaleckis R, Hanhineva K, Huang M, Isobe T, Koistinen VM, Meister I, Papazian S, Sdougkou K, Xie H, Martin JW, Rappaport SM, Tsugawa H, Walker DI, Woodruff TJ, Wright RO, Wheelock CE. Defining the Scope of Exposome Studies and Research Needs from a Multidisciplinary Perspective. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LETTERS 2021; 8:839-852. [PMID: 34660833 PMCID: PMC8515788 DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2021] [Revised: 08/31/2021] [Accepted: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
The concept of the exposome was introduced over 15 years ago to reflect the important role that the environment exerts on health and disease. While originally viewed as a call-to-arms to develop more comprehensive exposure assessment methods applicable at the individual level and throughout the life course, the scope of the exposome has now expanded to include the associated biological response. In order to explore these concepts, a workshop was hosted by the Gunma University Initiative for Advanced Research (GIAR, Japan) to discuss the scope of exposomics from an international and multidisciplinary perspective. This Global Perspective is a summary of the discussions with emphasis on (1) top-down, bottom-up, and functional approaches to exposomics, (2) the need for integration and standardization of LC- and GC-based high-resolution mass spectrometry methods for untargeted exposome analyses, (3) the design of an exposomics study, (4) the requirement for open science workflows including mass spectral libraries and public databases, (5) the necessity for large investments in mass spectrometry infrastructure in order to sequence the exposome, and (6) the role of the exposome in precision medicine and nutrition to create personalized environmental exposure profiles. Recommendations are made on key issues to encourage continued advancement and cooperation in exposomics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei Zhang
- Gunma
University Initiative for Advanced Research (GIAR), Gunma University, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511, Japan
- Division
of Physiological Chemistry 2, Department of Medical Biochemistry and
Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE-171 77, Sweden
- Key
Laboratory of Drug Quality Control and Pharmacovigilance (Ministry
of Education), State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicine, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, P. R. China
| | - Christopher Carlsten
- Air
Pollution Exposure Laboratory, Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department
of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V5Z 1M9, Canada
| | - Romanas Chaleckis
- Gunma
University Initiative for Advanced Research (GIAR), Gunma University, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511, Japan
- Division
of Physiological Chemistry 2, Department of Medical Biochemistry and
Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE-171 77, Sweden
| | - Kati Hanhineva
- Department
of Life Technologies, Food Chemistry and Food Development Unit, University of Turku, Turku 20014, Finland
- Department
of Biology and Biological Engineering, Chalmers
University of Technology, Gothenburg SE-412 96, Sweden
- Department
of Clinical Nutrition and Public Health, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio 70210, Finland
| | - Mengna Huang
- Channing
Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and
Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Tomohiko Isobe
- The
Japan Environment and Children’s Study Programme Office, National Institute for Environmental Sciences, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan
| | - Ville M. Koistinen
- Department
of Life Technologies, Food Chemistry and Food Development Unit, University of Turku, Turku 20014, Finland
- Department
of Clinical Nutrition and Public Health, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio 70210, Finland
| | - Isabel Meister
- Gunma
University Initiative for Advanced Research (GIAR), Gunma University, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511, Japan
- Division
of Physiological Chemistry 2, Department of Medical Biochemistry and
Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE-171 77, Sweden
| | - Stefano Papazian
- Science
for Life Laboratory, Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm SE-114 18, Sweden
| | - Kalliroi Sdougkou
- Science
for Life Laboratory, Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm SE-114 18, Sweden
| | - Hongyu Xie
- Science
for Life Laboratory, Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm SE-114 18, Sweden
| | - Jonathan W. Martin
- Science
for Life Laboratory, Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm SE-114 18, Sweden
| | - Stephen M. Rappaport
- Division
of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-7360, United States
| | - Hiroshi Tsugawa
- RIKEN Center
for Sustainable Resource Science, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 230-0045, Japan
- RIKEN Center
for Integrative Medical Sciences, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 230-0045, Japan
- Department
of Biotechnology and Life Science, Tokyo
University of Agriculture and Technology, 2-24-16 Nakamachi, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588 Japan
- Graduate
School of Medical life Science, Yokohama
City University, 1-7-22
Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan
| | - Douglas I. Walker
- Department
of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York10029-5674, United States
| | - Tracey J. Woodruff
- Program
on Reproductive Health and the Environment, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143, United States
| | - Robert O. Wright
- Department
of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York10029-5674, United States
| | - Craig E. Wheelock
- Gunma
University Initiative for Advanced Research (GIAR), Gunma University, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511, Japan
- Division
of Physiological Chemistry 2, Department of Medical Biochemistry and
Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE-171 77, Sweden
- Department
of Respiratory Medicine and Allergy, Karolinska
University Hospital, Stockholm SE-141-86, Sweden
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20
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Chung MK, Rappaport SM, Wheelock CE, Nguyen VK, van der Meer TP, Miller GW, Vermeulen R, Patel CJ. Utilizing a Biology-Driven Approach to Map the Exposome in Health and Disease: An Essential Investment to Drive the Next Generation of Environmental Discovery. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2021; 129:85001. [PMID: 34435882 PMCID: PMC8388254 DOI: 10.1289/ehp8327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Revised: 03/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent developments in technologies have offered opportunities to measure the exposome with unprecedented accuracy and scale. However, because most investigations have targeted only a few exposures at a time, it is hypothesized that the majority of the environmental determinants of chronic diseases remain unknown. OBJECTIVES We describe a functional exposome concept and explain how it can leverage existing bioassays and high-resolution mass spectrometry for exploratory study. We discuss how such an approach can address well-known barriers to interpret exposures and present a vision of next-generation exposomics. DISCUSSION The exposome is vast. Instead of trying to capture all exposures, we can reduce the complexity by measuring the functional exposome-the totality of the biologically active exposures relevant to disease development-through coupling biochemical receptor-binding assays with affinity purification-mass spectrometry. We claim the idea of capturing exposures with functional biomolecules opens new opportunities to solve critical problems in exposomics, including low-dose detection, unknown annotations, and complex mixtures of exposures. Although novel, biology-based measurement can make use of the existing data processing and bioinformatics pipelines. The functional exposome concept also complements conventional targeted and untargeted approaches for understanding exposure-disease relationships. CONCLUSIONS Although measurement technology has advanced, critical technological, analytical, and inferential barriers impede the detection of many environmental exposures relevant to chronic-disease etiology. Through biology-driven exposomics, it is possible to simultaneously scale up discovery of these causal environmental factors. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP8327.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Kei Chung
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Stephen M. Rappaport
- Program in Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Craig E. Wheelock
- Division of Physiological Chemistry 2, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Vy Kim Nguyen
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Thomas P. van der Meer
- Department of Endocrinology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Gary W. Miller
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Roel Vermeulen
- Utrecht University & Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Chirag J. Patel
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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21
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Tralau T, Oelgeschläger M, Kugler J, Bloch D, Braeuning A, Burgdorf T, Marx-Stoelting P, Ritz V, Schmeisser S, Trubiroha A, Zellmer S, Luch A, Schönfelder G, Solecki R, Hensel A. A prospective whole-mixture approach to assess risk of the food and chemical exposome. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2021; 2:463-468. [PMID: 37117676 DOI: 10.1038/s43016-021-00316-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2020] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Many widely used chemicals result in ubiquitous human exposure from multiple sources, including diet. Legislation mainly deals with the toxicological evaluation of single substances owing to a methodological and conceptual lack of alternatives, and does so within defined silos subject to over 40 distinct regulations in the EU alone. Furthermore, much of the research and many of the initiatives concerned with the assessment and evaluation of chemical mixtures and their potential effects on human health rely on retrospective analysis. Here we propose an approach for the prospective identification, assessment and regulation of mixtures relevant to human health. We address two distinct aspects of toxicology-which chemicals actually do occur together, and how potential mixture-related health hazards can be predicted-with an adapted concept of the exposome and large-scale hazard screens. The proactive use of the likelihood of co-exposure, together with the new approach of methods-based testing, may be a timely and feasible way of identifying those substances and mixtures where hazards may have been overlooked and regulatory action is needed. Ideally, we would generate co-exposure patterns for specific consumer groups, depending on lifestyle and dietary habits, to assess the specific risk of identified mixtures.
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22
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Lupo PJ, Petrick LM, Hoang TT, Janitz AE, Marcotte EL, Schraw JM, Arora M, Scheurer ME. Using primary teeth and archived dried spots for exposomic studies in children: Exploring new paths in the environmental epidemiology of pediatric cancer. Bioessays 2021; 43:e2100030. [PMID: 34106479 DOI: 10.1002/bies.202100030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2021] [Revised: 05/13/2021] [Accepted: 05/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
It is estimated that 300,000 children 0-14 years of age are diagnosed with cancer worldwide each year. While the absolute risk of cancer in children is low, it is the leading cause of death due to disease in children in high-income countries. In spite of this, the etiologies of pediatric cancer are largely unknown. Environmental exposures have long been thought to play an etiologic role. However, to date, there are few well-established environmental risk factors for pediatric malignancies, likely due to technical barriers in collecting biological samples prospectively in pediatric populations for direct measurements. In this review, we propose the use of novel or underutilized biospecimens (dried blood spots and teeth) and molecular approaches for exposure assessment (epigenetics, metabolomics, and somatic mutational profiles). Future epidemiologic studies of pediatric cancer should incorporate novel exposure assessment methodologies, data on molecular features of tumors, and a more complete assessment of gene-environment interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip J Lupo
- Section of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Lauren M Petrick
- The Senator Frank R. Lautenberg Environmental Health Science Laboratory, Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Thanh T Hoang
- Epidemiology Branch, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
| | - Amanda E Janitz
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Hudson College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Erin L Marcotte
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Jeremy M Schraw
- Section of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Manish Arora
- The Senator Frank R. Lautenberg Environmental Health Science Laboratory, Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Michael E Scheurer
- Section of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
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23
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Sarigiannis DA, Papaioannou N, Handakas E, Anesti O, Polanska K, Hanke W, Salifoglou A, Gabriel C, Karakitsios S. Neurodevelopmental exposome: The effect of in utero co-exposure to heavy metals and phthalates on child neurodevelopment. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2021; 197:110949. [PMID: 33716031 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.110949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2019] [Revised: 12/27/2020] [Accepted: 02/25/2021] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
In this study, the exposome paradigm has been applied on a mother-child cohort adopting an optimised untargeted metabolomics approach for human urine followed by advanced bioinformatics analysis. Exposome-wide association algorithms were used to draw links between in utero co-exposure to metals and phthalates, metabolic pathways deregulation, and clinically observed phenotypes of neurodevelopmental disorders such as problems in linguistic, motor development and cognitive capacity. Children (n = 148) were tested at the first and second year of their life using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III). Their mothers had been exposed to metals and phthalates during the pregnancy, according to human biomonitoring results from previously performed studies. Untargeted metabolomics analysis of biobanked urine samples from the mothers was performed using a combination of the high throughput analytical methods liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Most perturbed metabolic pathways from co-exposure heavy metals and phthalates were pathways related to the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA cycle) and oxidative phosphorylation, indicating the possibility of disruption of mitochondrial respiration. Overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS); the presence of glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPx3) during pregnancy and presence of glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPx1) in the umbilical cord were linked to verbal development problems. Another finding of the study is that in real life, adverse outcomes occur as a combination of environmental and social factors, all of them acting synergistically towards the deployment of an observed phenotype. Finally, the two-steps association process (exposure to pathways and pathways to adverse outcomes) was able to (a) provide associations that are not evident by directly associating exposure to outcomes and (b) provides additional insides on the mechanisms of environmental disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denis A Sarigiannis
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Chemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering Laboratory, University Campus, Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece; HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, Balkan Center, Bldg. B, 10thkm Thessaloniki-Thermi Road, 57001, Greece; School for Advanced Study (IUSS), Science, Technology and Society Department, Environmental Health Engineering, Piazza Della Vittoria 15, Pavia, 27100, Italy.
| | - Nafsika Papaioannou
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Chemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering Laboratory, University Campus, Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece; HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, Balkan Center, Bldg. B, 10thkm Thessaloniki-Thermi Road, 57001, Greece
| | - Evangelos Handakas
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Chemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering Laboratory, University Campus, Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece
| | - Ourania Anesti
- HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, Balkan Center, Bldg. B, 10thkm Thessaloniki-Thermi Road, 57001, Greece; School of Medicine, University of Crete, Voutes, Heraklion, 71003, Greece
| | - Kinga Polanska
- Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, 91348, Lodz, Poland
| | - Woijcek Hanke
- Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, 91348, Lodz, Poland
| | - Athanasios Salifoglou
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Chemical Engineering, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, University Campus, Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece
| | - Catherine Gabriel
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Chemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering Laboratory, University Campus, Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece; HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, Balkan Center, Bldg. B, 10thkm Thessaloniki-Thermi Road, 57001, Greece
| | - Spyros Karakitsios
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Chemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering Laboratory, University Campus, Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece; HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, Balkan Center, Bldg. B, 10thkm Thessaloniki-Thermi Road, 57001, Greece
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Viet SM, Falman JC, Merrill LS, Faustman EM, Savitz DA, Mervish N, Barr DB, Peterson LA, Wright R, Balshaw D, O'Brien B. Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource (HHEAR): A model for incorporating the exposome into health studies. Int J Hyg Environ Health 2021; 235:113768. [PMID: 34034040 PMCID: PMC8205973 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2021.113768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Revised: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Characterizing the complexity of environmental exposures in relation to human health is critical to advancing our understanding of health and disease throughout the life span. Extant cohort studies open the door for such investigations more rapidly and inexpensively than launching new cohort studies and the Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource (HHEAR) provides a resource for implementing life-stage exposure studies within existing study populations. Primary challenges to incorporation of environmental exposure assessment in health studies include: (1) lack of widespread knowledge of biospecimen and environmental sampling and storage requirements for environmental exposure assessment among investigators; (2) lack of availability of and access to laboratories capable of analyzing multiple environmental exposures throughout the life-course; and (3) studies lacking sufficient power to assess associations across life-stages. HHEAR includes a consortium of researchers with expertise in laboratory analyses, statistics and logistics to overcome these limitations and enable inclusion of exposomics in human health studies. OBJECTIVE This manuscript describes the structure and strengths of implementing the harmonized HHEAR resource model, and our approaches to addressing challenges. We describe how HHEAR incorporates analyses of biospecimens and environmental samples and human health studies across the life span - serving as a model for incorporating environmental exposures into national and international research. We also present program successes to date. DISCUSSION HHEAR provides a full-service laboratory and data analysis exposure assessment resource, linking scientific, life span, and toxicological consultation with both laboratory and data analysis expertise. HHEAR services are provided without cost but require NIH, NCI, NHLBI, or ECHO funding of the original cohort; internal HHEAR scientific review and approval of a brief application; and adherence to data sharing and publication policies. We describe the benefits of HHEAR's structure, collaborative framework and coordination across project investigators, analytical laboratories, biostatisticians and bioinformatics specialists; quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) including integrated sample management; and tools that have been developed to support the research (exposure information pages, ontology, new analytical methods, common QA/QC approach across laboratories, etc.). This foundation supports HHEAR's inclusion of new laboratory and statistical analysis methods and studies that are enhanced by including targeted analysis of specific exposures and untargeted analysis of chemicals associated with phenotypic endpoints in biological and environmental samples. CONCLUSION HHEAR is an interdisciplinary team of toxicologists, epidemiologists, laboratory scientists, and data scientists across multiple institutions to address broad and complex questions that benefit from integrated laboratory and data analyses. HHEAR's processes, features, and tools include all life stages and analysis of biospecimens and environmental samples. They are available to the wider scientific community to augment studies by adding state of the art environmental analyses to be linked to human health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jill C Falman
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Elaine M Faustman
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - David A Savitz
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Nancy Mervish
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Dana B Barr
- Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Lisa A Peterson
- University of Minnesota, Division of Environmental Health Sciences and Masonic Cancer Center, Minnesota, MN, USA
| | - Robert Wright
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - David Balshaw
- Division of Extramural Research and Training, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Durham, NC, USA
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25
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Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Exposomics studies can measure health-relevant chemical exposures during a lifetime and estimate the 'internal' environment. However, sampling limitations make these features difficult to capture directly during the critical neonatal time period. RECENT FINDINGS We review the use of newborn dried bloodspots (DBS) archived from newborn screening programs for exposomic analysis in epidemiological children's health studies. Emerging 'omics technologies such as adductomics and metabolomics have been adapted for DBS analysis, and these technologies can now provide valuable etiological information on the complex interplay between exposures, biological response, and population phenotypes. SUMMARY Adductomics and metabolomics of DBS can provide robust measurements for retrospective epidemiological investigations. With extensive bioarchiving programs in the United States and other countries, DBS are poised to substantially aid epidemiological studies, particularly for rare and low-frequency childhood diseases and disorders.
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Abstract
The "exposome" is an individual's lifetime spectrum of chemical exposures beginning at conception. An exposome includes general external influences such as pollution and weather; external individual-specific factors (diet, infections, self-selected chemical intake); and internal individual-specific constituents (metabolic byproducts, microbiome derivatives, inflammatory mediators, stress hormones, etc). The exposome paradigm is inherent in animal toxicity testing because laboratory studies are designed so that subjects share a common exposure history encompassing not only exposure(s)/treatment(s) but also other chemical sources (eg, air, bedding, food, water). Toxicologic pathologists should remember that some differences in responsiveness to a test article may reflect subtle differences in individual exposomes of seemingly equivalent test animals. Translation of toxicity data obtained in tests of genetically inbred animals maintained under controlled environmental conditions to produce quasi-identical exposomes at best offers only approximate guidance regarding potential responses in genetically heterogeneous human populations who live in many environmental settings and thus have divergent, complex exposomes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Wanda M Haschek
- Department of Pathobiology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA
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27
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Liu KY, Zhang JJ, Geng ML, Zhu YT, Liu XJ, Ding P, Wang BL, Liu WW, Liu YH, Tao FB. A Stable Isotope Dilution Assay for Multi-class Antibiotics in Pregnant Urines by LC–MS/MS. Chromatographia 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10337-020-03866-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Jeremias G, Gonçalves FJM, Pereira JL, Asselman J. Prospects for incorporation of epigenetic biomarkers in human health and environmental risk assessment of chemicals. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2020; 95:822-846. [PMID: 32045110 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2019] [Revised: 01/28/2020] [Accepted: 01/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Epigenetic mechanisms have gained relevance in human health and environmental studies, due to their pivotal role in disease, gene × environment interactions and adaptation to environmental change and/or contamination. Epigenetic mechanisms are highly responsive to external stimuli and a wide range of chemicals has been shown to determine specific epigenetic patterns in several organisms. Furthermore, the mitotic/meiotic inheritance of such epigenetic marks as well as the resulting changes in gene expression and cell/organismal phenotypes has now been demonstrated. Therefore, epigenetic signatures are interesting candidates for linking environmental exposures to disease as well as informing on past exposures to stressors. Accordingly, epigenetic biomarkers could be useful tools in both prospective and retrospective risk assessment but epigenetic endpoints are currently not yet incorporated into risk assessments. Achieving a better understanding on this apparent impasse, as well as identifying routes to promote the application of epigenetic biomarkers within environmental risk assessment frameworks are the objectives of this review. We first compile evidence from human health studies supporting the use of epigenetic exposure-associated changes as reliable biomarkers of exposure. Then, specifically focusing on environmental science, we examine the potential and challenges of developing epigenetic biomarkers for environmental fields, and discuss useful organisms and appropriate sequencing techniques to foster their development in this context. Finally, we discuss the practical incorporation of epigenetic biomarkers in the environmental risk assessment of chemicals, highlighting critical data gaps and making key recommendations for future research within a regulatory context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guilherme Jeremias
- Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.,CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Fernando J M Gonçalves
- Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.,CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Joana L Pereira
- Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.,CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Jana Asselman
- Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Aquatic Ecology, Environmental Toxicology Unit - GhEnToxLab, Ghent University, 9000, Gent, Belgium
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29
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Preston GW, Dagnino S, Ponzi E, Sozeri O, van Veldhoven K, Barratt B, Liu S, Grigoryan H, Lu SS, Rappaport SM, Chung KF, Cullinan P, Sinharay R, Kelly FJ, Chadeau-Hyam M, Vineis P, Phillips DH. Relationships between airborne pollutants, serum albumin adducts and short-term health outcomes in an experimental crossover study. CHEMOSPHERE 2020; 239:124667. [PMID: 31499299 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.124667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2019] [Revised: 08/21/2019] [Accepted: 08/24/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to air pollution can have both short-term and long-term effects on health. However, the relationships between specific pollutants and their effects can be obscured by characteristics of both the pollution and the exposed population. One way of elucidating the relationships is to link exposures and internal changes at the level of the individual. To this end, we combined personal exposure monitoring (59 individuals, Oxford Street II crossover study) with mass-spectrometry-based analyses of putative serum albumin adducts (fixed-step selected reaction monitoring). We attempted to infer adducts' identities using data from another, higher-resolution mass spectrometry method, and were able to detect a semi-synthetic standard with both methods. A generalised least squares regression method was used to test for associations between amounts of adducts and pollution measures (ambient concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter), and between amounts of adducts and short-term health outcomes (measures of lung health and arterial stiffness). Amounts of some putative adducts (e.g., one with a positive mass shift of ∼143 Da) were associated with exposure to pollution (11 associations), and amounts of other adducts were associated with health outcomes (eight associations). Adducts did not appear to provide a link between exposures and short-term health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- George W Preston
- MRC-PHE Centre for Environment & Health, Department of Analytical, Environmental & Forensic Sciences, School of Population Health & Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London, SE1 9NH, UK
| | - Sonia Dagnino
- MRC-PHE Centre for Environment & Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Norfolk Place, London, W2 1PG, UK
| | - Erica Ponzi
- MRC-PHE Centre for Environment & Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Norfolk Place, London, W2 1PG, UK; Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Osman Sozeri
- MRC-PHE Centre for Environment & Health, Department of Analytical, Environmental & Forensic Sciences, School of Population Health & Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London, SE1 9NH, UK
| | - Karin van Veldhoven
- MRC-PHE Centre for Environment & Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Norfolk Place, London, W2 1PG, UK
| | - Benjamin Barratt
- MRC-PHE Centre for Environment & Health, Department of Analytical, Environmental & Forensic Sciences, School of Population Health & Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London, SE1 9NH, UK
| | - Sa Liu
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Hasmik Grigoryan
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Sixin S Lu
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Stephen M Rappaport
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Kian Fan Chung
- National Heart & Lung Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Royal Brompton Campus, London, SW3 6LY, UK; NIHR Biomedical Research Unit, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Trust, London, SW3 6NP, UK
| | - Paul Cullinan
- National Heart & Lung Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Royal Brompton Campus, London, SW3 6LY, UK; NIHR Biomedical Research Unit, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Trust, London, SW3 6NP, UK
| | - Rudy Sinharay
- Pulmonary, Adult Critical Care and Sleep Directorate, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, SE1 7EH, UK
| | - Frank J Kelly
- MRC-PHE Centre for Environment & Health, Department of Analytical, Environmental & Forensic Sciences, School of Population Health & Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London, SE1 9NH, UK
| | - Marc Chadeau-Hyam
- MRC-PHE Centre for Environment & Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Norfolk Place, London, W2 1PG, UK
| | - Paolo Vineis
- MRC-PHE Centre for Environment & Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Norfolk Place, London, W2 1PG, UK
| | - David H Phillips
- MRC-PHE Centre for Environment & Health, Department of Analytical, Environmental & Forensic Sciences, School of Population Health & Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London, SE1 9NH, UK.
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Pleil JD, Wallace MAG, McCord J, Madden MC, Sobus J, Ferguson G. How do cancer-sniffing dogs sort biological samples? Exploring case-control samples with non-targeted LC-Orbitrap, GC-MS, and immunochemistry methods. J Breath Res 2019; 14:016006. [PMID: 31505485 PMCID: PMC8649743 DOI: 10.1088/1752-7163/ab433a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Early identification of disease onset is regarded as an important factor for successful medical intervention. However, cancer and other long-term latency diseases are rare and may take years to manifest clinically. As such, there are no gold standards with which to immediately validate proposed preclinical screening methodologies. There is evidence that dogs can sort samples reproducibly into yes/no categories based on case-control training, but the basis of their decisions is unknown. Because dogs are sniffing air, the distinguishing chemicals must be either in the gas-phase or attached to aerosols and/or airborne particles. Recent biomonitoring research has shown how to extract and analyze semi- and non-volatile compounds from human breath in exhaled condensates and aerosols. Further research has shown that exhaled aerosols can be directly collected on standard hospital-style olefin polypropylene masks and that these masks can be used as a simple sampling scheme for canine screening. In this article, detailed liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HR-MS) with Orbitrap instrumentation and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses were performed on two sets of masks sorted by consensus of a four-dog cohort as either cancer or control. Specifically, after sorting by the dogs, sample masks were cut into multiple sections and extracted for LC-MS and GC-MS non-targeted analyses. Extracts were also analyzed for human cytokines, confirming the presence of human aerosol content above levels in blank masks. In preliminary evaluations, 345 and 44 high quality chemical features were detected by LC-MS and GC-MS analyses, respectively. These features were used to develop provisional orthogonal projection to latent structures-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) models to determine if the samples classified as cancer (case) or non-cancer (control) by the dogs could be separated into the same groups using analytical instrumentation. While the OPLS-DA model for the LC-HR-MS data was able to separate the two groups with statistical significance, although weak explanatory power, the GC-MS model was not found to be significant. These results suggest that the dogs may rely on the less volatile compounds from breath aerosol that were analyzed by LC-HR-MS than the more volatile compounds observed by GC-MS to sort mask samples into groups. These results provide justification for more expansive studies in the future that aim to characterize specific chemical features, and the role(s) of these features in maintaining homeostatic biological processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joachim D Pleil
- US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Exposure Research Laboratory, 109T. W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, United States of America
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Sbihi H, Boutin RCT, Cutler C, Suen M, Finlay BB, Turvey SE. Thinking bigger: How early-life environmental exposures shape the gut microbiome and influence the development of asthma and allergic disease. Allergy 2019; 74:2103-2115. [PMID: 30964945 DOI: 10.1111/all.13812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 101] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2018] [Revised: 02/27/2019] [Accepted: 03/22/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Imbalance, or dysbiosis, of the gut microbiome of infants has been linked to an increased risk of asthma and allergic diseases. Most studies to date have provided a wealth of data showing correlations between early-life risk factors for disease and changes in the structure of the gut microbiome that disrupt normal immunoregulation. These studies have typically focused on one specific risk factor, such as mode of delivery or early-life antibiotic use. Such "micro-level" exposures have a considerable impact on affected individuals but not necessarily the whole population. In this review, we place these mechanisms under a larger lens that takes into account the influence of upstream "macro-level" environmental factors such as air pollution and the built environment. While these exposures likely have a smaller impact on the microbiome at an individual level, their ubiquitous nature confers them with a large influence at the population level. We focus on features of the indoor and outdoor human-made environment, their microbiomes and the research challenges inherent in integrating the built environment microbiomes with the early-life gut microbiome. We argue that an exposome perspective integrating internal and external microbiomes with macro-level environmental factors can provide a more comprehensive framework to define how environmental exposures can shape the gut microbiome and influence the development of allergic disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hind Sbihi
- Department of Pediatrics, British Columbia Children’s Hospital The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada
| | - Rozlyn CT. Boutin
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Michael Smith Laboratories The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada
| | - Chelsea Cutler
- Department of Pediatrics, British Columbia Children’s Hospital The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada
| | - Mandy Suen
- Department of Pediatrics, British Columbia Children’s Hospital The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada
| | - B. Brett Finlay
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Michael Smith Laboratories The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada
| | - Stuart E. Turvey
- Department of Pediatrics, British Columbia Children’s Hospital The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada
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Larose TL, Sætrom P, Martinussen MP, Skogseth H, Sandanger TM, Scélo G, McHale CM, Jacobsen GW, Smith MT. In utero exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals, micro-RNA profiles, and fetal growth: a pilot study protocol. J Public Health Res 2019; 8:1550. [PMID: 31572695 PMCID: PMC6747021 DOI: 10.4081/jphr.2019.1550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2019] [Accepted: 05/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: The developing fetus is particularly vulnerable to the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Molecular fingerprints of EDCs can be identified via microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles and may be etiologically implicated in the developmental origin of disease (DOHaD). Methods/design: This pilot study includes pregnant women at high risk (smoking at conception), and low risk (non-smoking at conception) for SGA birth (birthweight<10th percentile for gestational age). We have randomly selected 12 mothers (3 high-risk SGA birth, 3 low-risk SGA birth, 3 high-risk non-SGA birth, 3 low-risk non-SGA birth), with EDC measurements from gestational week 17. All offspring are female. We aim to test the stability of our samples (maternal serum, cord blood, placenta tissue), observe the differential expression of miRNA profiles over time (gestational weeks 17, 25, 33, 37, birth), and study the consistency between maternal EDC measures and miRNA expression profiles across our repeated measures. Expected impact of the study for Public Health: Results from this pilot study will inform the development of a larger cohort wide analysis, and will impact the current state of knowledge in the fields of public health, epigenetics, and the DOHaD. Significance for public health This research focuses on the developmental origin of disease with particular emphasis on maternal exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals during pregnancy and fetal growth by examining microRNA profiles in maternal serum, placenta tissue, and cord blood. Pregnant mothers and offspring are the most vulnerable populations affected by environmental exposures including exposure to pesticides, metals, and contaminants in food. Results from our pilot study will inform a larger project proposal that will look not only at epigenetic modifications and fetal development, but also the epigenetic effects on longer term neurodevelopmental and metabolic outcomes in childhood and early adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tricia L Larose
- K.G. Jebsen Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.,Department of Public Health and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Pål Sætrom
- K.G. Jebsen Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.,Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.,Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.,Bioinformatics core facility - BioCore, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Marit P Martinussen
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Håkon Skogseth
- Biobank 1, St. Olavs University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Torkjel M Sandanger
- Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT-the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Ghislaine Scélo
- Genetic Epidemiology Group, Section of Genetics, International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization, Lyon, France
| | - Cliona M McHale
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Geir W Jacobsen
- Department of Public Health and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Martyn T Smith
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
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Baken KA, Lambrechts N, Remy S, Mustieles V, Rodríguez-Carrillo A, Neophytou CM, Olea N, Schoeters G. A strategy to validate a selection of human effect biomarkers using adverse outcome pathways: Proof of concept for phthalates and reproductive effects. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2019; 175:235-256. [PMID: 31146096 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2019.05.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2019] [Revised: 05/09/2019] [Accepted: 05/10/2019] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Human biomonitoring measures the concentrations of environmental chemicals or their metabolites in body fluids or tissues. Complementing exposure biomarkers with mechanistically based effect biomarkers may further elucidate causal pathways between chemical exposure and adverse health outcomes. We combined information on effect biomarkers previously implemented in human observational studies with mechanisms of action reported in experimental studies and with information from published Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs), focusing on adverse reproductive effects of phthalate exposure. Phthalates constitute a group of chemicals that are ubiquitous in consumer products and have been related to a wide range of adverse health effects. As a result of a comprehensive literature search, we present an overview of effect biomarkers for reproductive toxicity that are substantiated by mechanistic information. The activation of several receptors, such as PPARα, PPARγ, and GR, may initiate events leading to impaired male and female fertility as well as other adverse effects of phthalate exposure. Therefore, these receptors appear as promising targets for the development of novel effect biomarkers. The proposed strategy connects the fields of epidemiology and toxicology and may strengthen the weight of evidence in observational studies that link chemical exposures to health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten A Baken
- Unit Health, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO NV), Mol, Belgium.
| | - Nathalie Lambrechts
- Unit Health, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO NV), Mol, Belgium
| | - Sylvie Remy
- Unit Health, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO NV), Mol, Belgium; Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Vicente Mustieles
- Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada (ibs.GRANADA), University Hospitals of Granada, Granada, Spain; Center for Biomedical Research (CIBM), University of Granada, Granada, Spain; Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology & Public Health (CIBERESP), Spain
| | | | - Christiana M Neophytou
- Department of Biological Sciences, School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Nicolas Olea
- Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada (ibs.GRANADA), University Hospitals of Granada, Granada, Spain; Center for Biomedical Research (CIBM), University of Granada, Granada, Spain; Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology & Public Health (CIBERESP), Spain
| | - Greet Schoeters
- Unit Health, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO NV), Mol, Belgium; Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium; Department of Environmental Medicine, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
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Bordoni L, Nasuti C, Fedeli D, Galeazzi R, Laudadio E, Massaccesi L, López-Rodas G, Gabbianelli R. Early impairment of epigenetic pattern in neurodegeneration: Additional mechanisms behind pyrethroid toxicity. Exp Gerontol 2019; 124:110629. [PMID: 31175960 DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2019.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2019] [Revised: 06/03/2019] [Accepted: 06/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Permethrin is a synthetic pyrethroid extensively used as anti-woodworm agent and for indoor and outdoor pest control. The main route of human exposure is through fruit, vegetable and milk intake. Low dosage exposure to permethrin during neonatal brain development (from postnatal day 6 to postnatal day 21) leads to dopamine decrease in rat striatum nucleus, oxidative stress and behavioural changes linked to the development of Parkinson's like neurodegeneration later in life. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of genes involved in the dopaminergic pathway and epigenetic regulatory mechanisms in adolescent rats treated with permethrin during neonatal brain development. Furthermore, in order to shed light on the mechanisms associated with molecular impairments, in silico studies were performed. The outcomes show increased expression of genes related to the dopamine-synthesis pathway (Nurr1, Th, Snca), epigenetics (TET proteins and Mecp2) and exposure to toxicants (Pon1 and Pon2) in adolescent rats compared with control group. Furthermore, increased global 5mC and 5hmC levels were observed in the DNA extracted from striatum of early-life treated rats in comparison with controls. FAIRE-qPCR analysis shows that permethrin induces an enrichment of chromatin-free DNA at the level of Th and Nurr1 promoters, and ChIP-qPCR reveals a significant reduction in methylation levels at H3K9me3 position at both Th and Nurr1 promoter regions. In silico studies show that permethrin competes for the same two binding sites of known NURR1 agonists, with a lower binding free energy for permethrin, suggesting an important durable association of permethrin with the orphan receptor. Moreover, alpha-synuclein shows a strong affinity for NURR1, corroborating previous experimental outcomes on the interactions between them. This study focuses on an emerging role of early-life exposure to environmental pollutants in the regulation of late onset diseases through intriguing mechanisms that change crucial epigenetic patterns starting from adolescent age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Bordoni
- School of Pharmacy, University of Camerino, Camerino 62032, MC, Italy.
| | - Cinzia Nasuti
- School of Pharmacy, University of Camerino, Camerino 62032, MC, Italy.
| | - Donatella Fedeli
- School of Pharmacy, University of Camerino, Camerino 62032, MC, Italy.
| | - Roberta Galeazzi
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60128, AN, Italy.
| | - Emiliano Laudadio
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60128, AN, Italy.
| | - Luca Massaccesi
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60128, AN, Italy.
| | - Gerardo López-Rodas
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Valencia and INCLIVA Biomedical Research Institute, Valencia, Spain.
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Abstract
The emergence of new biotechnologies provides great promise for biodefense, especially for key objectives of biosurveillance and early warning, microbial forensics, risk and threat assessment, horizon scanning in biotechnology, and medical countermeasure (MCM) development, scale-up, and delivery. Understanding and leveraging the newly developed capabilities afforded by emerging biotechnologies require knowledge about cutting-edge research and its real or proposed application(s), the process through which biotechnologies advance, and the educational and research infrastructure that promotes multi-disciplinary science. Innovation in research and technology development are driven by sector-specific needs and the convergence of the physical, chemical, material, computer, engineering, and/or life sciences. Biotechnologies developed for other sectors could be applied to biodefense, especially if the individuals involved are able to innovate in concept design and development. Of all biodefense objectives, biosurveillance seems to have reaped the most benefit from emerging biotechnologies, specifically the integration and analysis of diverse clinical, biological, demographic, and other relevant data. More recently, scientists have begun applying synthetic biology, genomics, and microfluidics to the development of new products and platforms for MCMs. Unlike these objectives, investments in microbial forensics have been few, limiting its ability to harness biotechnology advances for collecting and analyzing data. Looking to the future, emerging biotechnologies can provide new opportunities for enhancing biodefense by addressing capability gaps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunit K. Singh
- Molecular Biology Unit, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
| | - Jens H. Kuhn
- NIH/NIAID, Division of Clinical Research, Integrated Research Facility at Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD USA
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Chen Z, Cui L, Cui X, Li X, Yu K, Yue K, Dai Z, Zhou J, Jia G, Zhang J. The association between high ambient air pollution exposure and respiratory health of young children: A cross sectional study in Jinan, China. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 656:740-749. [PMID: 30530144 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2018] [Revised: 11/22/2018] [Accepted: 11/24/2018] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
There is growing concern about health effects of high air pollution in less-developed countries. Children represent a population at increased risk for air pollution-related respiratory conditions. This study investigated the relationship between high ambient air pollution exposure and respiratory health of young schoolchildren. From 2014 to 2016 in Jinan, China, 2532 primary school children in grades three to five from two different schools with different levels of air pollution were included in the study. Levels of ambient air pollution exposure including PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO and O3 were measured continuously at the two schools. A questionnaire about children's respiratory health was conducted every year. Among them, about 150 randomly selected children also performed lung function tests two times a year at the beginning of November and middle of December. Annual average exposure levels of PM2.5 (66.8-79.1 vs 90.0-107.7 μg/m3), PM10 (129.5-177.3 vs 198.1-218.6 μg/m3), NO2 (45.3-53.2 vs 45.0-56.2 μg/m3), SO2 (29.8-56.5 vs 40.5-80.3 μg/m3), CO (1.3-1.5 vs 1.4-1.7 mg/m3) and O3 (84.8-120.2 vs 61.1-128.1 μg/m3) in the heavy pollution primary school were significantly higher than the light one. The higher air pollution exposure was related to increased prevalence of respiratory diseases of young children in the last year, especially allergic rhinitis. The increased odds of lung function impairment associated with exposure to higher air pollution, could be up to 171.5% (aOR = 2.715; 95% CI = 1.915-3.849) for PEF < 75% predicted in 2014. However, after short-term exposure for 1.5 month or a week, paired comparison for parameters of the same child showed different results. The association between high ambient air pollution exposure and respiratory health of young children is closely related to exposure time and dose and may be fluctuate and complex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhangjian Chen
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Peking University, NO. 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
| | - Liangliang Cui
- Department of Environmental Health, Jinan Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, NO. 2 Weiliu Road, Huaiyin District, Jinan City, Shandong Province 250021, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaoxing Cui
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC 27705, USA
| | - Xinwei Li
- Gaoxin District Office, Jinan Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, NO. 2 Weiliu Road, Huaiyin District, Jinan City, Shandong Province 250021, People's Republic of China
| | - Kunkun Yu
- Department of Environmental Health, Jinan Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, NO. 2 Weiliu Road, Huaiyin District, Jinan City, Shandong Province 250021, People's Republic of China
| | - Kesan Yue
- Shizhong District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, NO. 6 Langmaoshan Road, Shizhong District, Jinan City, Shandong Province 250013, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhixiang Dai
- Licheng District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, NO. 5 Hongjialou Road, Licheng District, Jinan City, Shandong Province 250010, People's Republic of China
| | - Jingwen Zhou
- Department of Environmental Health, Jinan Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, NO. 2 Weiliu Road, Huaiyin District, Jinan City, Shandong Province 250021, People's Republic of China
| | - Guang Jia
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Peking University, NO. 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China.
| | - Ji Zhang
- Department of Environmental Health, Jinan Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, NO. 2 Weiliu Road, Huaiyin District, Jinan City, Shandong Province 250021, People's Republic of China.
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Primers on nutrigenetics and nutri(epi)genomics: Origins and development of precision nutrition. Biochimie 2019; 160:156-171. [PMID: 30878492 DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2019.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2018] [Accepted: 03/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the relationship between genotype and phenotype is a central goal not just for genetics but also for medicine and biological sciences. Despite outstanding technological progresses, genetics alone is not able to completely explain phenotypes, in particular for complex diseases. Given the existence of a "missing heritability", growing attention has been given to non-mendelian mechanisms of inheritance and to the role of the environment. The study of interaction between gene and environment represents a challenging but also a promising field with high potential for health prevention, and epigenetics has been suggested as one of the best candidate to mediate environmental effects on the genome. Among environmental factors able to interact with both genome and epigenome, nutrition is one of the most impacting. Not just our genome influences the responsiveness to food and nutrients, but vice versa, nutrition can also modify gene expression through epigenetic mechanisms. In this complex picture, nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics represent appealing disciplines aimed to define new prospectives of personalized nutrition. This review introduces to the study of gene-environment interactions and describes how nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics modulate health, promoting or affecting healthiness through life-style, thus playing a pivotal role in modulating the effect of genetic predispositions.
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News Feature: Exposing the exposome to elucidate disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 115:11859-11862. [PMID: 30459267 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1817771115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
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Fernandes J, Hu X, Ryan Smith M, Go YM, Jones DP. Selenium at the redox interface of the genome, metabolome and exposome. Free Radic Biol Med 2018; 127:215-227. [PMID: 29883789 PMCID: PMC6168380 DOI: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2018.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2018] [Revised: 05/19/2018] [Accepted: 06/02/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Selenium (Se) is a redox-active environmental mineral that is converted to only a small number of metabolites and required for a relatively small number of mammalian enzymes. Despite this, dietary and environmental Se has extensive impact on every layer of omics space. This highlights a need for global network response structures to provide reference for targeted, hypothesis-driven Se research. In this review, we survey the Se research literature from the perspective of the responsive physical and chemical barrier between an organism (functional genome) and its environment (exposome), which we have previously termed the redox interface. Recent advances in metabolomics allow molecular phenotyping of the integrated genome-metabolome-exposome structure. Use of metabolomics with transcriptomics to map functional network responses to supplemental Se in mice revealed complex network responses linked to dyslipidemia and weight gain. Central metabolic hubs in the network structure in liver were not directly linked to transcripts for selenoproteins but were, instead, linked to transcripts for glucose transport and fatty acid β-oxidation. The experimental results confirm the survey of research literature in showing that Se interacts with the functional genome through a complex network response structure. The results imply that systematic application of data-driven integrated omics methods to models with controlled Se exposure could disentangle health benefits and risks from Se exposures and also serve more broadly as an experimental paradigm for exposome research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jolyn Fernandes
- Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States
| | - Xin Hu
- Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States
| | - M Ryan Smith
- Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States
| | - Young-Mi Go
- Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States.
| | - Dean P Jones
- Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States.
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41
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Integration of the human exposome with the human genome to advance medicine. Biochimie 2018; 152:155-158. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2018.06.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2017] [Accepted: 06/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Juarez PD, Matthews-Juarez P. Applying an Exposome-Wide (ExWAS) Approach to Cancer Research. Front Oncol 2018; 8:313. [PMID: 30211112 PMCID: PMC6119827 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2018.00313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2018] [Accepted: 07/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Traditional research approaches, including genome-wide association studies (GWAS), epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) and Gene × Environment (G × E) studies are limited in their ability to handle the multiplicity of chemical and non-chemical toxicants to which people are exposed in the real world, over their life course, their impact on epigenomics and other biological systems, and their relationship to cancer onset, progression, and outcomes. Exposome-wide association study (ExWAS) provides a new approach for conceptualizing the roles and relationships of multiple chemical and non-chemical exposures in the etiology and progression of cancer at key developmental periods, over the life course, and across generations. ExWAS challenges us to consider the influence of both internal and external environment, chemical and non-chemical stressors, risk and protective factors, and spatial and temporal dimensions of exposures in our models of cancer incidence, outcomes, and disparities. Applying an ExWAS approach to cancer and cancer disparities research supports robust computational models and methods that will allow for analysis of the dynamic and complex interactions between genetics, epigenetics, and exposomics factors. In the coming months, we will spatially and temporally align environmental exposures with SCCS participant data from time of enrollment forward to move us closer to identifying complete exposure pathways that lead to cancer. In the future, we hope to link external sources of exposure to biomarkers of exposure, biomarkers of disease, disease phenotypes, and population level disparities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul D Juarez
- Family and Community Medicine, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN, United States
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Ghanbari R, Sumner S. Using Metabolomics to Investigate Biomarkers of Drug Addiction. Trends Mol Med 2018; 24:197-205. [PMID: 29397321 DOI: 10.1016/j.molmed.2017.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2017] [Revised: 12/11/2017] [Accepted: 12/12/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Drug addiction has been associated with an increased risk for cancer, psychological complications, heart, liver, and lung disease, as well as infection. While genes have been identified that can mark individuals at risk for substance abuse, the initiation step of addiction is attributed to persistent metabolic disruptions occurring following the first instance of narcotic drug use. Advances in analytical technologies can enable the detection of thousands of signals in body fluids and excreta that can be used to define biochemical profiles of addiction. Today, these approaches hold promise for determining how exposure to drugs, in the absence or presence of other environmentally relevant factors, can impact human metabolism. We posit that these can lead to candidate biomarkers of drug dependence, treatment, withdrawal, or relapse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reza Ghanbari
- Department of Nutrition, Nutrition Research Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Digestive Oncology Research Center, Digestive Diseases Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Susan Sumner
- Department of Nutrition, Nutrition Research Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
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Johnson CH, Athersuch TJ, Collman GW, Dhungana S, Grant DF, Jones DP, Patel CJ, Vasiliou V. Yale school of public health symposium on lifetime exposures and human health: the exposome; summary and future reflections. Hum Genomics 2017; 11:32. [PMID: 29221465 PMCID: PMC5723043 DOI: 10.1186/s40246-017-0128-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2017] [Accepted: 12/01/2017] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The exposome is defined as "the totality of environmental exposures encountered from birth to death" and was developed to address the need for comprehensive environmental exposure assessment to better understand disease etiology. Due to the complexity of the exposome, significant efforts have been made to develop technologies for longitudinal, internal and external exposure monitoring, and bioinformatics to integrate and analyze datasets generated. Our objectives were to bring together leaders in the field of exposomics, at a recent Symposium on "Lifetime Exposures and Human Health: The Exposome," held at Yale School of Public Health. Our aim was to highlight the most recent technological advancements for measurement of the exposome, bioinformatics development, current limitations, and future needs in environmental health. In the discussions, an emphasis was placed on moving away from a one-chemical one-health outcome model toward a new paradigm of monitoring the totality of exposures that individuals may experience over their lifetime. This is critical to better understand the underlying biological impact on human health, particularly during windows of susceptibility. Recent advancements in metabolomics and bioinformatics are driving the field forward in biomonitoring and understanding the biological impact, and the technological and logistical challenges involved in the analyses were highlighted. In conclusion, further developments and support are needed for large-scale biomonitoring and management of big data, standardization for exposure and data analyses, bioinformatics tools for co-exposure or mixture analyses, and methods for data sharing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline H. Johnson
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT USA
| | - Toby J. Athersuch
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK
- MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College Norfolk Place, London, UK
| | - Gwen W. Collman
- Division of Extramural Research and Training, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Morrisville, NC USA
| | - Suraj Dhungana
- Waters Corporation, Metabolomics and Translational Research, Milford, MA USA
| | - David F. Grant
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT USA
| | - Dean P. Jones
- Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA USA
| | - Chirag J. Patel
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Vasilis Vasiliou
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT USA
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45
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Turner MC, Nieuwenhuijsen M, Anderson K, Balshaw D, Cui Y, Dunton G, Hoppin JA, Koutrakis P, Jerrett M. Assessing the Exposome with External Measures: Commentary on the State of the Science and Research Recommendations. Annu Rev Public Health 2017; 38:215-239. [PMID: 28384083 PMCID: PMC7161939 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-082516-012802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The exposome comprises all environmental exposures that a person experiences from conception throughout the life course. Here we review the state of the science for assessing external exposures within the exposome. This article reviews (a) categories of exposures that can be assessed externally, (b) the current state of the science in external exposure assessment, (c) current tools available for external exposure assessment, and (d) priority research needs. We describe major scientific and technological advances that inform external assessment of the exposome, including geographic information systems; remote sensing; global positioning system and geolocation technologies; portable and personal sensing, including smartphone-based sensors and assessments; and self-reported questionnaire assessments, which increasingly rely on Internet-based platforms. We also discuss priority research needs related to methodological and technological improvement, data analysis and interpretation, data sharing, and other practical considerations, including improved assessment of exposure variability as well as exposure in multiple, critical life stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle C Turner
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona 08003, Spain; , .,Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona 08002, Spain.,CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid 28029, Spain.,McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1G 3Z7, Canada
| | - Mark Nieuwenhuijsen
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona 08003, Spain; , .,Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona 08002, Spain.,CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid 28029, Spain
| | - Kim Anderson
- Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331;
| | - David Balshaw
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709; ,
| | - Yuxia Cui
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709; ,
| | - Genevieve Dunton
- Department of Preventive Medicine and Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90033;
| | - Jane A Hoppin
- Center for Human Health and the Environment, Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695;
| | - Petros Koutrakis
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115;
| | - Michael Jerrett
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California 94704; .,Department of Environmental Health Science, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1772;
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46
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Warth B, Spangler S, Fang M, Johnson CH, Forsberg EM, Granados A, Martin RL, Domingo-Almenara X, Huan T, Rinehart D, Montenegro-Burke JR, Hilmers B, Aisporna A, Hoang LT, Uritboonthai W, Benton HP, Richardson SD, Williams AJ, Siuzdak G. Exposome-Scale Investigations Guided by Global Metabolomics, Pathway Analysis, and Cognitive Computing. Anal Chem 2017; 89:11505-11513. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.7b02759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Benedikt Warth
- Department
of Food Chemistry and Toxicology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Vienna, Währingerstraße 38, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Scott Spangler
- IBM Almaden Research Lab, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, California 95120, United States
| | - Mingliang Fang
- School
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 639798 Singapore
| | - Caroline H. Johnson
- Department
of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public
Health, Yale University, 60 College Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, United States
| | | | | | - Richard L. Martin
- IBM Almaden Research Lab, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, California 95120, United States
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Susan D. Richardson
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, United States
| | - Antony J. Williams
- National Center
for Computational Toxicology, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander
Drive, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711, United States
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47
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McAllister K, Mechanic LE, Amos C, Aschard H, Blair IA, Chatterjee N, Conti D, Gauderman WJ, Hsu L, Hutter CM, Jankowska MM, Kerr J, Kraft P, Montgomery SB, Mukherjee B, Papanicolaou GJ, Patel CJ, Ritchie MD, Ritz BR, Thomas DC, Wei P, Witte JS. Current Challenges and New Opportunities for Gene-Environment Interaction Studies of Complex Diseases. Am J Epidemiol 2017; 186:753-761. [PMID: 28978193 PMCID: PMC5860428 DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwx227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 116] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2016] [Revised: 03/14/2017] [Accepted: 03/16/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Recently, many new approaches, study designs, and statistical and analytical methods have emerged for studying gene-environment interactions (G×Es) in large-scale studies of human populations. There are opportunities in this field, particularly with respect to the incorporation of -omics and next-generation sequencing data and continual improvement in measures of environmental exposures implicated in complex disease outcomes. In a workshop called "Current Challenges and New Opportunities for Gene-Environment Interaction Studies of Complex Diseases," held October 17-18, 2014, by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute in conjunction with the annual American Society of Human Genetics meeting, participants explored new approaches and tools that have been developed in recent years for G×E discovery. This paper highlights current and critical issues and themes in G×E research that need additional consideration, including the improved data analytical methods, environmental exposure assessment, and incorporation of functional data and annotations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Leah E. Mechanic
- Correspondence to Dr. Leah E. Mechanic, Genomic Epidemiology Branch, Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 4E104, MSC 9763, Bethesda, MD 20892 (e-mail: )
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48
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Rosenfeld CS. Gut Dysbiosis in Animals Due to Environmental Chemical Exposures. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2017; 7:396. [PMID: 28936425 PMCID: PMC5596107 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2017.00396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 136] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2017] [Accepted: 08/23/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The gut microbiome consists of over 103–104 microorganism inhabitants that together possess 150 times more genes that the human genome and thus should be considered an “organ” in of itself. Such communities of bacteria are in dynamic flux and susceptible to changes in host environment and body condition. In turn, gut microbiome disturbances can affect health status of the host. Gut dysbiosis might result in obesity, diabetes, gastrointestinal, immunological, and neurobehavioral disorders. Such host diseases can originate due to shifts in microbiota favoring more pathogenic species that produce various virulence factors, such as lipopolysaccharide. Bacterial virulence factors and metabolites may be transmitted to distal target sites, including the brain. Other potential mechanisms by which gut dysbiosis can affect the host include bacterial-produced metabolites, production of hormones and factors that mimic those produced by the host, and epimutations. All animals, including humans, are exposed daily to various environmental chemicals that can influence the gut microbiome. Exposure to such chemicals might lead to downstream systemic effects that occur secondary to gut microbiome disturbances. Increasing reports have shown that environmental chemical exposures can target both host and the resident gut microbiome. In this review, we will first consider the current knowledge of how endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), heavy metals, air pollution, and nanoparticles can influence the gut microbiome. The second part of the review will consider how potential environmental chemical-induced gut microbiome changes might subsequently induce pathophysiological responses in the host, although definitive evidence for such effects is still lacking. By understanding how these chemicals result in gut dysbiosis, it may open up new remediation strategies in animals, including humans, exposed to such chemicals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheryl S Rosenfeld
- Bond Life Sciences Center, University of MissouriColumbia, MO, United States.,Biomedical Sciences, University of MissouriColumbia, MO, United States.,Thompson Center for Autism and Neurobehavioral Disorders, University of MissouriColumbia, MO, United States.,Genetics Area Program, University of MissouriColumbia, MO, United States
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49
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Patel CJ, Kerr J, Thomas DC, Mukherjee B, Ritz B, Chatterjee N, Jankowska M, Madan J, Karagas MR, McAllister KA, Mechanic LE, Fallin MD, Ladd-Acosta C, Blair IA, Teitelbaum SL, Amos CI. Opportunities and Challenges for Environmental Exposure Assessment in Population-Based Studies. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017; 26:1370-1380. [PMID: 28710076 PMCID: PMC5581729 DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.epi-17-0459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2017] [Revised: 06/14/2017] [Accepted: 06/22/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
A growing number and increasing diversity of factors are available for epidemiological studies. These measures provide new avenues for discovery and prevention, yet they also raise many challenges for adoption in epidemiological investigations. Here, we evaluate 1) designs to investigate diseases that consider heterogeneous and multidimensional indicators of exposure and behavior, 2) the implementation of numerous methods to capture indicators of exposure, and 3) the analytical methods required for discovery and validation. We find that case-control studies have provided insights into genetic susceptibility but are insufficient for characterizing complex effects of environmental factors on disease development. Prospective and two-phase designs are required but must balance extended data collection with follow-up of study participants. We discuss innovations in assessments including the microbiome; mass spectrometry and metabolomics; behavioral assessment; dietary, physical activity, and occupational exposure assessment; air pollution monitoring; and global positioning and individual sensors. We claim the the availability of extensive correlated data raises new challenges in disentangling specific exposures that influence cancer risk from among extensive and often correlated exposures. In conclusion, new high-dimensional exposure assessments offer many new opportunities for environmental assessment in cancer development. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(9); 1370-80. ©2017 AACR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chirag J Patel
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
| | - Jacqueline Kerr
- Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Duncan C Thomas
- Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Bhramar Mukherjee
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Beate Ritz
- Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
| | - Nilanjan Chatterjee
- Department of Biostatistics and Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Marta Jankowska
- Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Juliette Madan
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire
| | - Margaret R Karagas
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Lebanon, New Hampshire
| | - Kimberly A McAllister
- Susceptibility and Population Health Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
| | - Leah E Mechanic
- Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - M Daniele Fallin
- Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
| | | | - Ian A Blair
- Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology and Penn SRP Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Susan L Teitelbaum
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Christopher I Amos
- Department of Biomedical Data Science, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, Lebanon, New Hampshire.
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50
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Antony VB, Redlich CA, Pinkerton KE, Balmes J, Harkema JR. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences: 50 Years of Advancing Science and Improving Lung Health. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2017; 194:1190-1195. [PMID: 27668911 DOI: 10.1164/rccm.201608-1645pp] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The American Thoracic Society celebrates the 50th anniversary of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The NIEHS has had enormous impact through its focus on research, training, and translational science on lung health. It has been an advocate for clean air both in the United States and across the world. The cutting-edge science funded by the NIEHS has led to major discoveries that have broadened our understanding of the pathogenesis and treatment for lung disease. Importantly, the NIEHS has developed and fostered mechanisms that require cross-cutting science across the spectrum of areas of inquiry, bringing together environmental and social scientists with clinicians to bring their expertise on specific areas of investigation. The intramural program of the NIEHS nurtures cutting-edge science, and the extramural program encourages investigator-initiated research while at the same time providing broader direction through important initiatives. Under the umbrella of the NIEHS and guided by Dr. Linda Birnbaum, the director of the NIEHS, important collaborative programs, such as the Superfund Program and the National Toxicology Program, work to discover mechanisms to protect from environmental toxins. The American Thoracic Society has overlapping goals with the NIEHS, and the strategic plans of both august bodies converge to synergize on population lung health. These bonds must be tightened and highlighted as we work toward our common goals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veena B Antony
- 1 Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
| | - Carrie A Redlich
- 2 Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Kent E Pinkerton
- 3 School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, California
| | - John Balmes
- 4 Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California; and
| | - Jack R Harkema
- 5 Department of Pathology and Diagnostic Investigation, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
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