Prenatal Exposure to Heavy Metals Affects Gestational Age by Altering DNA Methylation Patterns.

Eun Jung Koh,Ji Su Lee,Seung Hwan Kim,So Yeon Yu,Seung Yong Hwang

doi:10.3390/nano11112871

Eun Jung Koh, Ji Su Lee + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11112871

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Journal: Nanomaterials	Publication Date: Oct 28, 2021
Citations: 5	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Hanyang University

Abstract

Environmental exposure is known to have toxic effects. Maternal environmental exposure not only affects mothers but also their fetuses in utero, which may interrupt their early development. Preterm birth, one of the outcomes of prenatal exposure, is a significant factor in lifelong health risks. To understand the effects of prenatal exposome on preterm birth, we studied the association between maternal and prenatal heavy metal exposure and gestational age, using resources from the MOthers’ and Children’s Environmental Health (MOCEH) study in South Korea. Additionally, a methylation assay was performed to analyze epigenetic mediation using genomic DNA derived from the cord blood of 384 participants in the MOCEH study. The results suggest that maternal cadmium exposure is associated with a decrease in gestational age through an alteration in DNA methylation at a specific CpG site, cg21010642. The CpG site was annotated to a gene involved in early embryonic development. Therefore, irregular methylation patterns at this site may contribute to premature birth by mediating irregular biological mechanisms.

Highlights

The exposome is defined as the totality of exposure during one’s lifetime [1] and consists of three factors: the external environment, the internal environment, and health risks
Even though the concept appeared more than a decade ago and some studies have focused on the integrated exposome concept [2], much research in this area is fragmentary and only considers individual associations between three factors of the exposome: (1) environmental exposure and health risks; (2) environmental exposure and epigenomics; and (3) health risks and epigenomics
According to the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) theory, maternal environmental exposure is transported to the fetus and could affect early developmental programming, which may result in health problems during the lifetime of the offspring [3]

Summary

Introduction

The exposome is defined as the totality of exposure during one’s lifetime [1] and consists of three factors: the external environment, the internal environment, and health risks. According to the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) theory, maternal environmental exposure is transported to the fetus and could affect early developmental programming, which may result in health problems during the lifetime of the offspring [3] Heavy metals, such as mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd), are representative environmental toxicants. Hg exposure can occur through fish intake, dental amalgam, thermometer use, or skin creams; Pb exposure occurs through paints used in households or toys and ground water contaminated by Pb-containing plumbing; and Cd exposure occurs through drinking water contaminated by soil pollution, industrial activity, waste combustion, or smoking [4,5,6,7] Because of their low excretion efficiency, heavy metals accumulate in the body and exert neuro- or immunotoxic effects during early development, Nanomaterials 2021, 11, 2871.

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