1
|
Thangaraj SV, Zeng L, Pennathur S, Lea R, Sinclair KD, Bellingham M, Evans NP, Auchus R, Padmanabhan V. Developmental programming: Impact of preconceptional and gestational exposure to a real-life environmental chemical mixture on maternal steroid, cytokine and oxidative stress milieus in sheep. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 900:165674. [PMID: 37495149 PMCID: PMC10568064 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165674] [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: 05/22/2023] [Revised: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Gestational exposure to environmental chemicals (ECs) is associated with adverse, sex-specific offspring health effects of global concern. As the maternal steroid, cytokine and oxidative stress milieus can have critical effects on pregnancy outcomes and the programming of diseases in offspring, it is important to study the impact of real-life EC exposure, i.e., chronic low levels of mixtures of ECs on these milieus. Sheep exposed to biosolids, derived from human waste, is an impactful model representing the ECs humans are exposed to in real-life. Offspring of sheep grazed on biosolids-treated pasture are characterized by reproductive and metabolic disruptions. OBJECTIVE To determine if biosolids exposure disrupts the maternal steroid, cytokine and oxidative stress milieus, in a fetal sex-specific manner. METHODS Ewes were maintained before mating and through gestation on pastures fertilized with biosolids (BTP), or inorganic fertilizer (Control). From maternal plasma collected mid-gestation, 19 steroids, 14 cytokines, 6 oxidative stress markers were quantified. Unpaired t-test and ANOVA were used to test for differences between control and BTP groups (n = 15/group) and between groups based on fetal sex, respectively. Correlation between the different markers was assessed by Spearman correlation. RESULTS Concentrations of the mineralocorticoids - deoxycorticosterone, corticosterone, the glucocorticoids - deoxycortisol, cortisol, cortisone, the sex steroids - androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone, 16-OH-progesterone and reactive oxygen metabolites were higher in the BTP ewes compared to Controls, while the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-17A and anti-inflammatory IL-36RA were decreased in the BTP group. BTP ewes with a female fetus had lower levels of IP-10. DISCUSSION These findings suggest that pre-conceptional and gestational exposure to ECs in biosolids increases steroids, reactive oxygen metabolites and disrupts cytokines in maternal circulation, likely contributors to the aberrant phenotypic outcomes seen in offspring of BTP sheep - a translationally relevant precocial model.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- S V Thangaraj
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - L Zeng
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - S Pennathur
- Departments of Medicine and Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - R Lea
- Schools of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough, UK
| | - K D Sinclair
- Schools of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough, UK
| | - M Bellingham
- School of Biodiversity One Health and Veterinary Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK
| | - N P Evans
- School of Biodiversity One Health and Veterinary Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK
| | - R Auchus
- Departments of Pharmacology & Internal medicine, Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology, & Diabetes, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - V Padmanabhan
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Clemmensen PJ, Brix N, Schullehner J, Ernst A, Harrits Lunddorf LL, Bjerregaard AA, Halldorsson TI, Olsen SF, Hansen B, Stayner LT, Kolstad HA, Sigsgaard T, Ramlau-Hansen CH. Prenatal exposure to nitrosatable drugs and timing of puberty in sons and daughters: A nationwide cohort study. Int J Hyg Environ Health 2023; 254:114271. [PMID: 37820420 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2023.114271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Revised: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND N-nitroso compounds (NOCs) can be formed by endogenous reactions between nitrosatable drugs and nitrite. Animal studies have found that several NOCs are teratogenic, and epidemiological studies report associations between prenatal exposure to nitrosatable drugs and adverse birth outcomes. It is unknown whether prenatal exposure to nitrosatable drugs is harmful to the child's reproductive health, including pubertal development. OBJECTIVES We investigated whether prenatal exposure to nitrosatable drugs was associated with timing of puberty and whether nitrate, nitrite and antioxidant intake modified any association. METHODS The population-based Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) Puberty Cohort, which includes 15,819 children, was used to investigate the association between prenatal exposure to nitrosatable drugs and timing of puberty. Around gestational week 11 and gestational week 18, mothers provided information about drug use during pregnancy. The children's self-reported information on onset of pubertal milestones was collected every six months from 11 years of age and throughout puberty. To investigate potential effect modification by nitrite, nitrate and antioxidant intake, information on these factors was obtained from a food frequency questionnaire completed by the mothers in gestational week 25, and information on nitrate concentration in maternal drinking water at her residential address was obtained from monitoring data from public waterworks. Data were analysed using a multivariable regression model for interval-censored data estimating difference in months in timing of puberty between exposure groups. RESULTS A total of 2,715 children were prenatally exposed to nitrosatable drugs. We did not find an association between prenatal exposure to nitrosatable drugs and timing of puberty. This finding was supported by null-findings in the following sub-analyses investigating: 1. subtypes of nitrosatable drugs (secondary and tertiary amines and amides), 2. dose-dependency (duration of drug intake), 3. effect modification by maternal intake of nitrate, nitrite, and antioxidants. 4. confounding by indication. CONCLUSIONS Prenatal exposure to nitrosatable drugs was not associated with timing of puberty. Nitrosatable drugs are commonly used drugs in pregnancy, and further research is needed to allow firm conclusions on the potential effect of prenatal exposure to nitrosatable drugs on the child's reproductive health.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Nis Brix
- Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Clinical Genetics, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Jörg Schullehner
- Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Danish Big Data Centre for Environment and Health (BERTHA), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Andreas Ernst
- Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Urology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | | | - Anne Ahrendt Bjerregaard
- Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark; Center for Clinical Research and Prevention, Copenhagen University Hospital - Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Thorhallur Ingi Halldorsson
- Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark; Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Iceland
| | - Sjurdur Frodi Olsen
- Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark; Section of Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Leslie Thomas Stayner
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health, Chicago, United States
| | - Henrik Albert Kolstad
- Department of Occupational Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Torben Sigsgaard
- Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Danish Big Data Centre for Environment and Health (BERTHA), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Cirrau -Centre for Integrated Register-based Research at Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | | |
Collapse
|
3
|
Prenatal Exposure to Parental Lifestyle Factors, Diseases, and Use of Medications and Male Pubertal Development: a Review of Epidemiological Studies Published 2017–2022. CURR EPIDEMIOL REP 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s40471-023-00320-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/12/2023]
|
4
|
Robertson OC, Marceau K, Duncan RJ, Shirtcliff EA, Leve LD, Shaw DS, Natsuaki M, Neiderhiser JM, Ganiban JM. Prenatal programming of developmental trajectories for obesity risk and early pubertal timing. Dev Psychol 2022; 58:1817-1831. [PMID: 35727305 PMCID: PMC9593554 DOI: 10.1037/dev0001405] [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] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The thrifty phenotype and fetal overnutrition hypotheses are two developmental hypotheses that originated from the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) perspective. The DOHaD posits that exposures experienced prenatally and early in life may influence health outcomes through altering form and function of internal organs related to metabolic processes. Obesity risk and early pubertal timing might be influenced by similar mechanisms. The thrifty phenotype hypothesis is primarily characterized by experiencing a deprivation of nutrients during gestation paired with an energy rich postnatal environment. The fetal overnutrition hypothesis says that obesity experienced prenatally will be associated with increased lifetime risk of obesity in the offspring. Both hypotheses were tested by examining developmental pathways from genetic and prenatal risk through early growth trajectories (birth to 7 years) to pubertal timing at age 11 years. Participants included 361 children adopted at birth (57% male; 57% non-Hispanic White, 11% Black, 9% Hispanic; adoptive family income Mdn = $70,000-$100,000, birth family income Mdn = < $15,000). Associations between boys' childhood body mass index (BMI) and pubertal timing were confounded by genetics, prenatal risk, and early growth. The thrifty phenotype hypothesis was partially supported for boys' childhood BMI (at ages 4 to 7 years). Both hypotheses were partially supported for girls' childhood BMI but not pubertal timing. A novel Gene × Prenatal Risk interaction showed that genetic risk predicted girls' childhood BMI most strongly at adequate compared with at excessive levels of gestational weight gain. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Kristine Marceau
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Purdue University
| | - Robert J. Duncan
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Purdue University
| | | | | | | | - Misaki Natsuaki
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
5
|
Siegel EL, Kezios KL, Houghton L, Pereira-Eshraghi C, Cirillo P, Cohn BA, Factor-Litvak P. Could maternal thyroid function during pregnancy affect daughters' age at menarche through child growth? A mediation analysis. Reprod Toxicol 2022; 107:33-39. [PMID: 34808459 PMCID: PMC8760156 DOI: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2021.11.004] [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: 09/24/2021] [Revised: 11/04/2021] [Accepted: 11/11/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Early menarche is associated with adverse health outcomes during adolescence as well as breast and other reproductive cancers later in adulthood. However, the causes of early menarche and the pathways through which they operate are not fully understood. Though maternal thyroid function during pregnancy affects child growth, and rapid childhood growth is associated with a decreased age at menarche, the relationship between prenatal maternal thyroid function and daughters' age at menarche has not been examined. We conducted a mediation analysis in a historical cohort of 260 mother-child pairs to estimate the total and indirect effects of maternal prenatal thyroid function on daughters' age at menarche. No association was observed between thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) or anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies (ATPO) and daughters' age at menarche. Using a sample-specific, a-priori cutoff at the 10th percentile, low levels of maternal free thyroxine (FT4) were associated with earlier daughter age at menarche, with a hazard ratio (95 % CI) of 1.70 (1.02, 2.84) comparing the bottom 10th percentile with the top 90th percentile of exposure levels. Higher maternal FT4 was associated with rapid child weight gain from ages 5-9, and rapid child weight gain from ages 5-9 was associated with earlier age at menarche; the estimated indirect effect of this pathway was null. While maternal FT4 is associated with earlier age at menarche in daughters, this is not mediated by rapid weight gain in our study population, suggesting that maternal FT4 is operating through a different pathway.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Eva L Siegel
- Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W 168th St, New York, NY, USA, 10032,corresponding author: . 722 W 168th St. New York, NY, 10032
| | - Katrina L Kezios
- Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W 168th St, New York, NY, USA, 10032
| | - Lauren Houghton
- Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W 168th St, New York, NY, USA, 10032
| | - Camila Pereira-Eshraghi
- Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 622 W 168th St, New York, NY, USA, 10032
| | - Piera Cirillo
- Child Health and Development Studies, Center for Research on Women’s and Children’s Health, Public Health Institute, 555 12th Street, Suite 290, Oakland, CA, USA, 94607
| | - Barbara A Cohn
- Child Health and Development Studies, Center for Research on Women’s and Children’s Health, Public Health Institute, 555 12th Street, Suite 290, Oakland, CA, USA, 94607
| | - Pam Factor-Litvak
- Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W 168th St, New York, NY, USA, 10032
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Barbieri F, Inzaghi E, Caruso Nicoletti M, Cassio A, Grandone A, DE Sanctis L, Bizzarri C. Biological clock and heredity in pubertal timing: what is new? Minerva Pediatr (Torino) 2021; 73:537-548. [PMID: 34264049 DOI: 10.23736/s2724-5276.21.06511-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Puberty represents a milestone during a person's life and is characterized by several physical and psychological changes which end with the achievement of sexual maturation and of fertility. Puberty onset depends on a series of sophisticated, not completely understood, mechanisms certainly involving Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone (GnRH) and its effects on pituitary gonadotropins. As recent evidence has demonstrated that pubertal timing deeply affects future adult health life, much efforts have been performed in order to clarify the exact actors involved in the onset and progression of puberty. Genetic factors are undoubtedly essential players in the regulation of pubertal development, accounting for approximately 50-80% of its variability. Mutations in genes such as KISS1, MKRN3 and DLK1 have been associated with central precocious puberty. Interestingly, a possible involvement of epigenetic mechanisms has been proposed as additional element able to affect pubertal phase. Environmental factors have recently attracted much attention. Indeed, an overall decrease in the age of puberty has been observed in the last decades. As genetic factors require long time to exert their effect, other players, such as environmental ones, may be involved. Special focus has been posed on nutritional status, endocrine-disrupting chemicals with non-conclusive results. Pubertal timing deeply affects future life, suggesting the need to clarify mechanisms driving pubertal onset and progression, in order to identify tailored therapeutic strategies and targets.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Flavia Barbieri
- Pediatric Section, Department of translational Medical Sciences, Federico II University of Naples, Naples, Italy
| | - Elena Inzaghi
- Department of Pediatrics, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Manuela Caruso Nicoletti
- Pediatric Endocrinology Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Alessandra Cassio
- Pediatric Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, S.Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital, Bologna, Italy
| | - Anna Grandone
- Departement of Women's and Children's Health and General and Specialized Surgery, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Napoli, Italy
| | - Luisa DE Sanctis
- Pediatric Endocrinology Unit, Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Carla Bizzarri
- Unit of Endocrinology, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy -
| |
Collapse
|