Abstract
Eating seafood has numerous health benefits; however, it constitutes one of the main sources of exposure to several harmful environmental pollutants, both of anthropogenic and natural origin. Among these, methylmercury and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons give rise to concerns related to their possible effects on human biology. In the present review, we summarize the results of epidemiological investigations on the genetic component of individual susceptibility to methylmercury and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exposure in humans, and on the effects that these two pollutants have on human epigenetic profiles (DNA methylation). Then, we provide evidence that Mediterranean coastal communities represent an informative case study to investigate the potential impact of methylmercury and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on the human genome and epigenome, since they are characterized by a traditionally high local seafood consumption, and given the characteristics that render the Mediterranean Sea particularly polluted. Finally, we discuss the challenges of a molecular anthropological approach to this topic.
Highlights
Despite being usually considered a healthy food [1], seafood carries several contaminants that can negatively affect human health [2]
Two recent reviews [39,72] focusing on this topic collectively listed thirty-two genes whose variation is related to Hg body burden and susceptibility to Hg toxicity, and, in particular, twelve of these genes are related to hair Hg level and/or to MeHg exposure outcomes
What may emerge from all the above is that Mediterranean fishing communities could represent an informative case study to gain insight into the potential impact of Hg and to fulfil the need for an “ecogenetic approach” to the study of the health effects of environmental chemicals stressed by Basu and colleagues [41], what we suggest is to extend the research on Mediterranean seafood contamination by Hg and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by including information about the genomic and epigenomic backgrounds of the exposed communities
Summary
Despite being usually considered a healthy food [1], seafood carries several contaminants that can negatively affect human health [2]. It is recognized that the benefits of fish intake exceed the potential risks, but here we address how contaminants levels in seafood are significantly affected by biological and ecological factors [3,4,5,6,7,8]. Seafood habitual intake is a crucial factor in determining contaminants exposure [9,10]. We excluded studies addressing occupational exposure because we were interested in the potential effects on human molecular variability of Hg and PAHs from seafood. We address the ecological evidence that makes Mediterranean coastal communities a potential informative case study to explore this topic. We decided to focus on MeHg and PAHs because they are two of the most concerning and widespread seafood contaminants, and because of their high levels in Mediterranean seafood
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