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Plusquin M, Wang C, Cosemans C, Roels HA, Vangeneugden M, Lapauw B, Fiers T, T'Sjoen G, Nawrot TS. The association between newborn cord blood steroids and ambient prenatal exposure to air pollution: findings from the ENVIRONAGE birth cohort. Environ Health 2023; 22:63. [PMID: 37674219 PMCID: PMC10483875 DOI: 10.1186/s12940-023-01010-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/16/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
Knowledge of whether prenatal exposure to ambient air pollution disrupts steroidogenesis is currently lacking. We investigated the association between prenatal ambient air pollution and highly accurate measurements of cord blood steroid hormones from the androgenic pathway.This study included 397 newborns born between the years 2010 and 2015 from the ENVIRONAGE cohort in Belgium of whom six cord blood steroid levels were measured: 17α-hydroxypregnenolone, 17α-hydroxyprogesterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, pregnenolone, androstenedione, and testosterone. Maternal ambient exposure to PM2.5 (particles with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm), NO2, and black carbon (BC) were estimated daily during the entire pregnancy using a high-resolution spatiotemporal model. The associations between the cord blood steroids and the air pollutants were tested and estimated by first fitting linear regression models and followed by fitting weekly prenatal exposures to distributed lag models (DLM). These analyses accounted for possible confounders, coexposures, and an interaction effect between sex and the exposure. We examined mixture effects and critical exposure windows of PM2.5, NO2 and BC on cord blood steroids via the Bayesian kernel machine regression distributed lag model (BKMR-DLM).An interquartile range (IQR) increment of 7.96 µg/m3 in PM2.5 exposure during pregnancy trimester 3 was associated with an increase of 23.01% (99% confidence interval: 3.26-46.54%) in cord blood levels of 17α-hydroxypregnenolone, and an IQR increment of 0.58 µg/m³ in BC exposure during trimester 1 was associated with a decrease of 11.00% (99% CI: -19.86 to -0.012%) in cord blood levels of androstenedione. For these two models, the DLM statistics identified sensitive gestational time windows for cord blood steroids and ambient air pollution exposures, in particular for 17α-hydroxypregnenolone and PM2.5 exposure during trimester 3 (weeks 28-36) and for androsterone and BC exposure during early pregnancy (weeks 2-13) as well as during mid-pregnancy (weeks 18-26). We identified interaction effects between pollutants, which has been suggested especially for NO2.Our results suggest that prenatal exposure to ambient air pollutants during pregnancy interferes with steroid levels in cord blood. Further studies should investigate potential early-life action mechanisms and possible later-in-life adverse effects of hormonal disturbances due to air pollution exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Congrong Wang
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, UHasselt, Diepenbeek, Belgium
| | | | - Harry A Roels
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, UHasselt, Diepenbeek, Belgium
| | | | - Bruno Lapauw
- Department of Endocrinology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Tom Fiers
- Department of Clinical Pathology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Guy T'Sjoen
- Department of Endocrinology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Tim S Nawrot
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, UHasselt, Diepenbeek, Belgium
- Department of Public Health & Primary Care, Leuven University, Leuven, Belgium
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Reimann B, Sleurs H, Dockx Y, Rasking L, De Boever P, Pirard C, Charlier C, Nawrot TS, Plusquin M. Exposure to endocrine disrupters and cardiometabolic health effects in preschool children: Urinary parabens are associated with wider retinal venular vessels. Chemosphere 2023; 328:138570. [PMID: 37019399 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Revised: 03/28/2023] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM Parabens are widely used as antimicrobial preservatives in personal care products. Studies investigating obesogenic or cardiovascular effects of parabens show discordant results, while data on preschool children are lacking. Paraben exposure during early childhood could have profound cardiometabolic effects later in life. METHODS In this cross-sectional study paraben concentrations [methyl (MeP), ethyl (EtP), propyl (PrP), butyl (BuP)] were measured by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry in 300 urinary samples of 4-6-year-old children of the ENVIRONAGE birth cohort. Paraben values below the limit of quantitation (LOQ) were imputed by censored likelihood multiple imputation. The associations between log-transformed paraben values and cardiometabolic measurements (BMI z-scores, waist circumference, blood pressure and retinal microvasculature) were analyzed in multiple linear regression models with a priori selected covariates. Effect modification by sex was investigated by including interaction terms. RESULTS Geometric means (geometric SD) of urinary MeP, EtP, and PrP levels above the LOQ were 32.60 (6.64), 1.26 (3.45), and 4.82 (4.11) μg/L, respectively. For BuP more than 96% of all measurements were below the LOQ. Regarding the microvasculature, we found direct associations between MeP and central retinal venular equivalent (β = 1.23, p = 0.039) and PrP with the retinal tortuosity index (x103)(β = 1.75, p = 0.0044). Furthermore, we identified inverse associations between MeP and ∑parabens with BMI z-scores (β = -0.067, p = 0.015 and β = -0.070, p = 0.014 respectively), and EtP with mean arterial pressure (β = -0.69, p = 0.048). The direction of association between EtP and BMI z-scores showed evidence for sex-specific differences with a direct trend in boys (β = 0.10, p = 0.060). CONCLUSIONS Already at young age paraben exposure is associated with potentially adverse changes in the retinal microvasculature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brigitte Reimann
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium
| | - Hanne Sleurs
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium
| | - Yinthe Dockx
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium
| | - Leen Rasking
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium
| | - Patrick De Boever
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium; Health Unit, Flemish Institute for Technological Research, Mol, Belgium
| | - Catherine Pirard
- Laboratory of Clinical, Forensic and Environmental Toxicology, CHU of Liege, B35, 4000, Liege, Belgium; Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Medicines (CIRM), University of Liege (ULg), CHU, (B35), 4000, Liege, Belgium
| | - Corinne Charlier
- Laboratory of Clinical, Forensic and Environmental Toxicology, CHU of Liege, B35, 4000, Liege, Belgium; Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Medicines (CIRM), University of Liege (ULg), CHU, (B35), 4000, Liege, Belgium
| | - Tim S Nawrot
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium; Department of Public Health, Environment & Health Unit, Leuven University (KU Leuven), 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Michelle Plusquin
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
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Reimann B, Vrijens K, Roels HA, Wang C, Cosemans C, Van Overmeire I, Nawrot TS, Plusquin M. In utero exposure to parabens and early childhood BMI z-scores - Associations between placental ethyl paraben, longitudinal BMI trajectories and cord blood metabolic biomarkers. Environ Int 2021; 157:106845. [PMID: 34474324 PMCID: PMC8484768 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2021] [Revised: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 08/20/2021] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Parabens are used as antimicrobial preservatives in personal care products. Few studies have dealt with adverse health outcomes, transplacental transfer, and obesogenic effects of prenatal exposure to parabens. We examined the association between placental paraben levels and cord blood metabolic biomarkers, considering modulating effects of maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and underlying epigenetic mechanisms, and investigated longitudinal effects of in utero paraben exposure on early childhood trajectories of BMI z-scores. METHODS Placental concentrations of four parabens [methyl (MeP), ethyl (EtP), propyl (PrP), and butyl (BuP)] were measured by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry in 229 placentas of the ENVIRONAGE birth cohort. The association with cord blood metabolic biomarkers [glucose, insulin, γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), high-density and low-density lipoprotein (HDL and LDL)] was analyzed in multiple regression models with two different sets of, a priori selected potential confounders, additionally stratified for different maternal BMI groups and assessed by causal mediation analysis. The association between placental paraben concentration and differential DNA methylation of CpGs annotated to GGT and longitudinal measurements of BMI z-scores were investigated with adjusted linear mixed models. RESULTS The geometric means of placental MeP, EtP, PrP, and BuP levels above the limit of detection (LOD) were 4.42, 1.32, 1.51, and 0.35 ng/g respectively, with only EtP showing sufficient (88%) measurements above LOD for further analyses. An interquartile ratio (IQR) increase in placental EtP was associated with an increase of 12.61 % (95% CI: 1.80 24.57) in the geometric mean of cord GGT activity, and with a decrease of -3.64 % (95% CI: -6.80 to -0.39) in the geometric mean of cord glucose. Placental EtP levels were significantly associated with hypermethylation of cg08612779 annotated to GGT7 after correcting for multiple testing (ß = 0.0017, p = 0.049). An interquartile ratio (IQR) increment in placental EtP was associated with a decrease in longitudinal BMI z-score of 0.27 points (95% CI: -0.46 to -0.088). CONCLUSION Prenatal EtP exposure may affect early childhood BMI. The association of placental EtP with cord blood GGT and glucose levels provides a starting point for further research on mechanisms of paraben-related metabolic processes in utero.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brigitte Reimann
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Agoralaan Gebouw D, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium
| | - Karen Vrijens
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Agoralaan Gebouw D, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium
| | - Harry A Roels
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Agoralaan Gebouw D, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium
| | - Congrong Wang
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Agoralaan Gebouw D, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium
| | - Charlotte Cosemans
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Agoralaan Gebouw D, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium
| | - Ilse Van Overmeire
- Sciensano, Chemical and Physical Health Risks, J. Wytsmanstraat 14, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Tim S Nawrot
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Agoralaan Gebouw D, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium; Department of Public Health, Environment & Health Unit, Leuven University (KU Leuven), Kapucijnenvoer 35, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Michelle Plusquin
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Agoralaan Gebouw D, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium.
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Reimann B, Janssen BG, Alfano R, Ghantous A, Espín-Pérez A, de Kok TM, Saenen ND, Cox B, Robinson O, Chadeau-Hyam M, Penders J, Herceg Z, Vineis P, Nawrot TS, Plusquin M. The Cord Blood Insulin and Mitochondrial DNA Content Related Methylome. Front Genet 2019; 10:325. [PMID: 31031804 PMCID: PMC6474284 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2019.00325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2018] [Accepted: 03/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Mitochondrial dysfunction seems to play a key role in the etiology of insulin resistance. At birth, a link has already been established between mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content and insulin levels in cord blood. In this study, we explore shared epigenetic mechanisms of the association between mtDNA content and insulin levels, supporting the developmental origins of this link. First, the association between cord blood insulin and mtDNA content in 882 newborns of the ENVIRONAGE birth cohort was assessed. Cord blood mtDNA content was established via qPCR, while cord blood levels of insulin were determined using electrochemiluminescence immunoassays. Then the cord blood DNA methylome and transcriptome were determined in 179 newborns, using the human 450K methylation Illumina and Agilent Whole Human Genome 8 × 60 K microarrays, respectively. Subsequently, we performed an epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) adjusted for different maternal and neonatal variables. Afterward, we focused on the 20 strongest associations based on p-values to assign transcriptomic correlates and allocate corresponding pathways employing the R packages ReactomePA and RDAVIDWebService. On the regional level, we examined differential methylation using the DMRcate and Bumphunter packages in R. Cord blood mtDNA content and insulin were significantly correlated (r = 0.074, p = 0.028), still showing a trend after additional adjustment for maternal and neonatal variables (p = 0.062). We found an overlap of 33 pathways which were in common between the association with cord blood mtDNA content and insulin levels, including pathways of neurodevelopment, histone modification, cytochromes P450 (CYP)-metabolism, and biological aging. We further identified a DMR annotated to Repulsive Guidance Molecule BMP Co-Receptor A (RGMA) linked to cord blood insulin as well as mtDNA content. Metabolic variation in early life represented by neonatal insulin levels and mtDNA content might reflect or accommodate alterations in neurodevelopment, histone modification, CYP-metabolism, and aging, indicating etiological origins in epigenetic programming. Variation in metabolic hormones at birth, reflected by molecular changes, might via these alterations predispose children to metabolic diseases later in life. The results of this study may provide important markers for following targeted studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brigitte Reimann
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, University of Hasselt, Hasselt, Belgium
| | - Bram G. Janssen
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, University of Hasselt, Hasselt, Belgium
| | - Rossella Alfano
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, University of Hasselt, Hasselt, Belgium
| | - Akram Ghantous
- Epigenetics Group, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France
| | - Almudena Espín-Pérez
- Department of Biomedical Informatics Research, Stanford University, California, CA, United States
| | - Theo M. de Kok
- Department of Toxicogenomics, GROW School for Oncology and Developmental Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Nelly D. Saenen
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, University of Hasselt, Hasselt, Belgium
| | - Bianca Cox
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, University of Hasselt, Hasselt, Belgium
| | - Oliver Robinson
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
- Medical Research Council-Health Protection Agency Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Marc Chadeau-Hyam
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
- Medical Research Council-Health Protection Agency Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
- Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Joris Penders
- Laboratory of Clinical Biology, East-Limburg Hospital, Genk, Belgium
| | - Zdenko Herceg
- Epigenetics Group, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France
| | - Paolo Vineis
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
- Medical Research Council-Health Protection Agency Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
- Italian Institute for Genomic Medicine (IIGM), Turin, Italy
| | - Tim S. Nawrot
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, University of Hasselt, Hasselt, Belgium
- School of Public Health, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Michelle Plusquin
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, University of Hasselt, Hasselt, Belgium
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
- Medical Research Council-Health Protection Agency Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
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