Abstract
Title: In utero arsenic exposure modulates children’s immune functionBackground. Arsenic exposure occurs globally, and it is immunotoxic.Objective. We examined the association between drinking water arsenic exposure and immunological outcomes in a prospective cohort recruited in Bangladesh (2008-2018).Methods. Linear and Poisson regression models were used to evaluate the association between arsenic exposure and serum antibody (N=502) and infectious diseases (N=989) in children aged 5.Results. Median water arsenic (W-As) was 4.6μg/L in pregnancy. Comparing highest to lowest tertile of W-As, children aged 5 had a greater odds of clinically insufficient concentrations of diphtheria antibody (OR:1.91, 95%CI): 1.03, 3.56) after adjusting for income, maternal education, breastfeeding, birth, gender, age, and BMI. No association was observed with diphtheria or measles antibody levels. The incident rate ratios for each doubling of W-As were 1.10 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.00, 1.22) and 0.93 (95% CI = 0.82, 1.05) for respiratory and febrile illness, respectively, after adjusting for covariates.Conclusion. This study provides epidemiological evidence that chronic low level arsenic exposure from drinking water during pregnancy modulates children’s immunological functioning and increases their susceptibility to infectious respiratory diseases.
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