Perfluoroalkyl substances and lipid profile in exposed pregnant women in the Veneto Region, Italy

Background

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are persistent and widespread environmental pollutants. Residents of a large area of the Veneto Region (North-Eastern Italy) were exposed to high concentrations of PFASs through drinking water from the late-1970s to 2013. PFASs have been consistently associated with raised serum lipids, but only few studies have been conducted among pregnant women, and none has stratified analyses by trimesters of gestation. Our main objective was to evaluate the association between perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) levels and lipid profiles in high-exposed pregnant women.

Methods

A cross-sectional analysis was conducted in 319 pregnant women (age 14-48 years) recruited in the Regional health surveillance program. Serum PFASs were measured by HPLC-MS/MS. Non-fasting serum total cholesterol (TC) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured by enzymatic assays in automated analysers, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) was calculated. The associations between ln-transformed PFASs (and categorized into quartiles) and lipids were assessed using generalized additive models. Analyses were adjusted for potential confounders and stratified according to pregnancy trimester.

Results

In the first trimester, plasma concentrations of both PFOA and PFOS were positively associated with TC. However in the third trimester PFOA levels were instead inversely significantly associated with TC and LDL-C levels. Overall, both PFOA and PFOS were positively associated with HDL-C, and PFOA negatively with LDL-C.

Conclusions

In a small highly exposed population of pregnant women, the associations between PFASs concentrations and lipid profile were modified by trimester of gestation. Patterns late in pregnancy were different to the positive associations with LDL-C generally found. Differential transfer and bioaccumulation of lipids and PFAS in the placenta across gestation might explain our findings.

Key messages

This study provides evidence of different patterns of PFAS associations with lipids in pregnant women across the trimesters of gestation. The different patterns of association from general population studies sheds light on the role of fetal nutrition during pregnancy affecting both lipids and PFAS in serum.

Perfluoroalkyl substances and blood pressure in exposed young population in the Veneto Region, Italy

Background

Residents in a large area of the Veneto Region (North-Eastern Italy) were exposed to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) via drinking water. Studies on the association between PFASs and blood pressure (BP) levels are limited and results are inconsistent. Using cross-sectional data from the Regional health surveillance program, we aimed to quantify the associations between PFAS serum concentrations and blood pressure and hypertension prevalence.

Methods

The study included 16,224 individuals aged 20-39 years. Pregnant women (n = 327), participants with self-reported diagnosis or under treatment (n = 296) or with missing information on the selected covariates (n = 114) were excluded, leaving 15,487 subjects. Hypertension (HYP) was defined as any self-reported diagnosis, use of antihypertensive drugs, or raised systolic/diastolic blood pressure (SBP)≥140, DBP ≥90 mmHg). Serum PFASs were measured by HPLC-MS. Generalized additive models were used to investigate the relation between each PFAS (perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA)) ln transformed and by decile, and SBP, DBP, HYP, adjusted for potential confounders.

Results

Both SBP and DBP increased significantly with an increase in the ln-transformed serum PFASs concentration in a monotonic way. The predicted increase in SBP and DBP were 1.62 (95% CI = 0.69, 2.55), 1.64 mmHg (95% CI = 0.96, 2.31) from lowest to highest decile of PFOA. The associations were stronger for SBP in men and DBP in women. One unit increase in each ln-PFAS was positively associated with an increased odds of HYP in men: PFOA OR = 1.07 (1.01-1.14), PFOS OR = 1.18 (1.05-1.32), PFHxS OR = 1.11 (1.03-1.19), PFNA OR = 1.19 (1.01-1.41).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that exposure to PFAS is associated with increased blood pressure and thus may contribute as a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases.

Key messages

Serum PFASs were associated with raised systolic blood pressure in men and diastolic blood pressure in women in a large highly exposed young adult population. Serum PFASs were associated with raised prevalence of hypertension in men.

Rice protein-concentrate meal as a potential dietary ingredient in practical diets for blackspot seabream Pagellus bogaraveo: a histological and enzymatic investigation

Field and laboratory studies were conducted to evaluate the intestinal responses to partial replacement of fish meal with rice protein concentrate (RPC) in practical diets for blackspot seabream Pagellus bogaraveo. Two experimental diets were formulated to be isoproteic and isoenergetic with an increasing level of RPC (20 and 35%, respectively) and were tested against a fish meal-based control diet (RPC0). The diets showed similar features for growth performances and both intestinal histology and digestive enzymes. This study confirmed that RPC does not induce intestinal mucosa alterations in this fish. The dietary RPC supplement caused a significant increase in trypsin activity, whereas lipase activity was reduced.

Validation of a recombinant based antibody ELISA for diagnosis of human and canine leishmaniasis

In this study, a recombinant chimeric antigen (CA) ELISA was validated as a single test for both human and dog leishmaniasis. Serum panels included 327 human and 339 canine IFAT-positive and 1113 human and 1078 canine IFAT-negative samples. CA-ELISA was carried out using the same serum dilution, and labelled protein A as secondary reagent. Test performances were calculated using ROC analysis. For the human panel, the test showed diagnostic accuracy (DA) 0.974, specificity (Sp) 97.12%, sensitivity (Se) 91.44%, and concordance (K) 0.88. The dog panel showed DA 0.998, Sp 99.54%, Se 98.54%, and K 0.98. The proposed method is the best recombinant antigen-based ELISA, and can be used as IFAT substitute for mass screening.

Rice protein concentrate meal as potential dietary ingredient in practical diets for blackspot seabream (Pagellus bogaraveo)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the performances and the flesh quality of Pagellus bogaraveo fed with diets containing rice protein concentrate [RPC, 70% crude protein (CP) and 10% ether extract]. Three isoproteic and isoenergetic (CP 47%, 22 MJ/kg DM) diets were formulated with an increasing level of RPC: 0%, 20% and 35%. The fish (mean weight 75 g) from the Messina Straits were randomly distributed in 12 tanks (3 diets x 4 replications, 10 fish/tank). The daily ratio (1.5% of the fish biomass) was updated every 15 days. Biomass gain showed an opposite trend to the RPC diet inclusion. No differences appeared in the somatic indexes. Differences appeared between fatty acid profiles of the dorsal muscle. Fatty acid of series n-6 increased and fatty acid of series n-3 decreased in fillets of fish fed with increasing levels of RPC. The inclusion of RPC in the diets, as a partial replacement of fish meal (20%), is possible without affecting the growth performance and fillet quality.