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Lucia RM, Liao X, Huang WL, Forman D, Kim A, Ziogas A, Norden-Krichmar TM, Goodman D, Alvarez A, Masunaka I, Pathak KV, McGilvrey M, Hegde AM, Pirrotte P, Park HL. Urinary glyphosate and AMPA levels in a cross-sectional study of postmenopausal women: Associations with organic eating behavior and dietary intake. Int J Hyg Environ Health 2023; 252:114211. [PMID: 37393842 PMCID: PMC10503538 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2023.114211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Revised: 06/08/2023] [Accepted: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023]
Abstract
Animal and epidemiologic studies suggest that there may be adverse health effects from exposure to glyphosate, the most highly used pesticide in the world, and its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA). Meanwhile, consumption of organic foods (presumably grown free of chemical pesticides) has increased in recent years. However, there have been limited biomonitoring studies assessing the levels of human glyphosate and AMPA exposure in the United States. We examined urinary levels of glyphosate and AMPA in the context of organic eating behavior in a cohort of healthy postmenopausal women residing in Southern California and evaluated associations with demographics, dietary intake, and other lifestyle factors. 338 women provided two first-morning urine samples and at least one paired 24-h dietary recall reporting the previous day's dietary intake. Urinary glyphosate and AMPA were measured using LC-MS/MS. Participants reported on demographic and lifestyle factors via questionnaires. Potential associations were examined between these factors and urinary glyphosate and AMPA concentrations. Glyphosate was detected in 89.9% of urine samples and AMPA in 67.2%. 37.9% of study participants reported often or always eating organic food, 30.2% sometimes, and 32.0% seldom or never. Frequency of organic food consumption was associated with several demographic and lifestyle factors. Frequent organic eaters had significantly lower urinary glyphosate and AMPA levels, but not after adjustment for covariates. Grain consumption was significantly associated with higher urinary glyphosate levels, even among women who reported often or always eating organic grains. Soy protein and alcohol consumption as well as high frequency of eating fast food were associated with higher urinary AMPA levels. In conclusion, in the largest study to date examining paired dietary recall data and measurements of first-void urinary glyphosate and AMPA, the vast majority of subjects sampled had detectable levels, and significant dietary sources in the American diet were identified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel M Lucia
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Xiyue Liao
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, California State University, Long Beach, CA, USA
| | - Wei-Lin Huang
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Danielle Forman
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Alexis Kim
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Argyrios Ziogas
- Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | | | - Deborah Goodman
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Andrea Alvarez
- Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Irene Masunaka
- Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Khyatiben V Pathak
- Integrated Mass Spectrometry Shared Resource, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA, USA; Cancer & Cell Biology Division, Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - Marissa McGilvrey
- Integrated Mass Spectrometry Shared Resource, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA, USA; Cancer & Cell Biology Division, Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - Apurva M Hegde
- Integrated Mass Spectrometry Shared Resource, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA, USA; Cancer & Cell Biology Division, Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - Patrick Pirrotte
- Integrated Mass Spectrometry Shared Resource, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA, USA; Cancer & Cell Biology Division, Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - Hannah Lui Park
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
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Lucia RM, Huang WL, Pathak KV, McGilvrey M, David-Dirgo V, Alvarez A, Goodman D, Masunaka I, Odegaard AO, Ziogas A, Pirrotte P, Norden-Krichmar TM, Park HL. Association of Glyphosate Exposure with Blood DNA Methylation in a Cross-Sectional Study of Postmenopausal Women. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2022; 130:47001. [PMID: 35377194 PMCID: PMC8978648 DOI: 10.1289/ehp10174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2021] [Revised: 03/05/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Glyphosate is the most commonly used herbicide in the world and is purported to have a variety of health effects, including endocrine disruption and an elevated risk of several types of cancer. Blood DNA methylation has been shown to be associated with many other environmental exposures, but to our knowledge, no studies to date have examined the association between blood DNA methylation and glyphosate exposure. OBJECTIVE We conducted an epigenome-wide association study to identify DNA methylation loci associated with urinary glyphosate and its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) levels. Secondary goals were to determine the association of epigenetic age acceleration with glyphosate and AMPA and develop blood DNA methylation indices to predict urinary glyphosate and AMPA levels. METHODS For 392 postmenopausal women, white blood cell DNA methylation was measured using the Illumina Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip array. Glyphosate and AMPA were measured in two urine samples per participant using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Methylation differences at the probe and regional level associated with glyphosate and AMPA levels were assessed using a resampling-based approach. Probes and regions that had an false discovery rate q < 0.1 in ≥ 90 % of 1,000 subsamples of the study population were considered differentially methylated. Differentially methylated sites from the probe-specific analysis were combined into a methylation index. Epigenetic age acceleration from three epigenetic clocks and an epigenetic measure of pace of aging were examined for associations with glyphosate and AMPA. RESULTS We identified 24 CpG sites whose methylation level was associated with urinary glyphosate concentration and two associated with AMPA. Four regions, within the promoters of the MSH4, KCNA6, ABAT, and NDUFAF2/ERCC8 genes, were associated with glyphosate levels, along with an association between ESR1 promoter hypomethylation and AMPA. The methylation index accurately predicted glyphosate levels in an internal validation cohort. AMPA, but not glyphosate, was associated with greater epigenetic age acceleration. DISCUSSION Glyphosate and AMPA exposure were associated with DNA methylation differences that could promote the development of cancer and other diseases. Further studies are warranted to replicate our results, determine the functional impact of glyphosate- and AMPA-associated differential DNA methylation, and further explore whether DNA methylation could serve as a biomarker of glyphosate exposure. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP10174.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel M. Lucia
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Wei-Lin Huang
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Khyatiben V. Pathak
- Integrated Mass Spectrometry Shared Resource, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, California, USA
- Cancer & Cell Biology Division, Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
| | - Marissa McGilvrey
- Integrated Mass Spectrometry Shared Resource, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, California, USA
- Cancer & Cell Biology Division, Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
| | - Victoria David-Dirgo
- Integrated Mass Spectrometry Shared Resource, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, California, USA
- Cancer & Cell Biology Division, Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
| | - Andrea Alvarez
- Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Deborah Goodman
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Irene Masunaka
- Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Andrew O. Odegaard
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Argyrios Ziogas
- Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Patrick Pirrotte
- Integrated Mass Spectrometry Shared Resource, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, California, USA
- Cancer & Cell Biology Division, Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
| | | | - Hannah Lui Park
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Irvine, California, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Irvine, California, USA
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Lucia RM, Huang WL, Alvarez A, Masunaka I, Ziogas A, Goodman D, Odegaard AO, Norden-Krichmar TM, Park HL. Association of mammographic density with blood DNA methylation. Epigenetics 2021; 17:531-546. [PMID: 34116608 PMCID: PMC9067527 DOI: 10.1080/15592294.2021.1928994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Altered DNA methylation may be an intermediate phenotype between breast cancer risk factors and disease. Mammographic density is a strong risk factor for breast cancer. However, no studies to date have identified an epigenetic signature of mammographic density. We performed an epigenome-wide association study of mammographic density. Methods: White blood cell DNA methylation was measured for 385 postmenopausal women using the Illumina Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip array. Differential methylation was assessed using genome-wide, probe-level, and regional analyses. We implemented a resampling-based approach to improve the stability of our findings. Results: On average, women with elevated mammographic density exhibited DNA hypermethylation within CpG islands and gene promoters compared to women with lower mammographic density. We identified 250 CpG sites for which DNA methylation was significantly associated with mammographic density. The top sites were located within genes associated with cancer, including HDLBP, TGFB2, CCT4, and PAX8, and were more likely to be located in regulatory regions of the genome. We also identified differential DNA methylation in 37 regions, including within the promoters of PAX8 and PF4, a gene involved in the regulation of angiogenesis. Overall, our results paint a picture of epigenetic dysregulation associated with mammographic density. Conclusion: Mammographic density is associated with differential DNA methylation throughout the genome, including within genes associated with cancer. Our results suggest the potential involvement of several genes in the biological mechanisms behind differences in breast density between women. Further studies are warranted to explore these potential mechanisms and potential links to breast cancer risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel M Lucia
- Department of Epidemiology, University of California, Irvine, USA
| | - Wei-Lin Huang
- Department of Epidemiology, University of California, Irvine, USA
| | - Andrea Alvarez
- Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, USA
| | - Irene Masunaka
- Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, USA
| | - Argyrios Ziogas
- Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, USA
| | - Deborah Goodman
- Department of Epidemiology, University of California, Irvine, USA
| | | | | | - Hannah Lui Park
- Department of Epidemiology, University of California, Irvine, USA.,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Irvine, USA
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