Abstract
Telomere length (TL) is a biomarker of biological aging that may be affected by prenatal exposure to air pollution. The aim of this study was to assess the association between prenatal exposure to air pollution and TL in maternal blood cells (leukocytes), placenta and umbilical cord blood cells, sampled immediately after birth in 296 Danish mother-child pairs from a birth cohort. Exposure data was obtained using the high-resolution and spatial–temporal air pollution modeling system DEHM-UBM-AirGIS for PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NH4+, black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC), CO, O3, NO2, and NOx at residential and occupational addresses of the participating women for the full duration of the pregnancy. The association between prenatal exposure to air pollutants and TL was investigated using distributed lag models. There were significant and positive associations between TL in umbilical cord blood cells and prenatal exposure to BC, OC, NO2, NOx, CO, and O3 during the second trimester. TL in umbilical cord blood was significantly and inversely associated with prenatal exposure to PM2.5, BC, OC, SO2, NH4+, CO and NO2 during the third trimester. There were similar inverse associations between TL from umbilical cord blood cells and air pollution exposure at the residential and occupational addresses. There were weaker or no associations between air pollution exposure and TL in placenta tissue and maternal blood cells. In conclusion, both the second and third trimesters of pregnancy are shown to be sensitive windows of exposure to air pollution affecting fetal TL.
Highlights
Maternal air pollution exposure is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth (Poirier et al, 2015; Qian et al, 2016), low birth weight (Clemens et al, 2017; Pedersen et al, 2013; Yorifuji et al, 2015), and stillbirth (Siddika et al 2016), with chronic inflam mation and oxidative stress as proposed mechanisms of action (Kannan et al 2006)
Two studies performed in Flan ders, Belgium have reported that prenatal exposure to relatively low levels of air pollution is related to shorter Telomere length (TL) in both placenta tissue and umbilical cord blood cells; placenta TL was found to decrease with increasing exposure to traffic related air pollution during the pregnancy (Bijnens et al 2015), and placenta TL and umbilical cord blood cell TL were found to be inversely associated with PM2.5 exposure during midgestation (Martens et al 2017)
The significant correlations found in model 1 – 5 between air pollution factors at the residential or occupational addresses and TL are presented in Supplementary Materials, Table S11. This is the first study to assess the associations between air pollution exposure in the period from 8 weeks before conception until birth, and the TL in paired samples of cells in umbilical cord blood, placenta tissue, and maternal blood
Summary
Maternal air pollution exposure is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth (Poirier et al, 2015; Qian et al, 2016), low birth weight (Clemens et al, 2017; Pedersen et al, 2013; Yorifuji et al, 2015), and stillbirth (Siddika et al 2016), with chronic inflam mation and oxidative stress as proposed mechanisms of action (Kannan et al 2006). Two studies performed in Flan ders, Belgium have reported that prenatal exposure to relatively low levels of air pollution is related to shorter TL in both placenta tissue and umbilical cord blood cells; placenta TL was found to decrease with increasing exposure to traffic related air pollution during the pregnancy (Bijnens et al 2015), and placenta TL and umbilical cord blood cell TL were found to be inversely associated with PM2.5 exposure during midgestation (Martens et al 2017). Another study from Wuhan city, China where the air pollution levels are much higher, reported inverse associations between TL in umbilical cord blood cells and PM2.5, SO2, CO, and PM with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 μm (PM10) (Song et al 2019). A study from Mexico city showed inverse associations between umbilical cord blood cell TL and air pollution exposure during the first trimester and positive associations in the second and third trimester (Rosa et al 2019). There is a lack of low exposure studies with a comprehensive exposure assessment and a concomitant assessment of TL in cells from umbilical cord blood, placenta tissue and maternal blood
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