Maternal residential air pollution and placental imprinted gene expression

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Samantha L. Kingsley, Brown University; Maya A. Deyssenroth, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai; Karl T. Kelsey, Brown University; Yara Abu Awad, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health; Itai Kloog, Ben Gurion University of the Negev; Joel D. Schwartz, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health; Luca Lambertini, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai; Jia Chen, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai; Carmen Marsit, Emory University; Gregory A. Wellenius, Brown University
• Language: English
• Date: 2017-11-01
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2017 Elsevier Ltd
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2017.08.022
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Environment International
• ISSN: 0160-4120
• Volume: 108
• Start Page: 204
• End Page: 211
• Grant/Funding Information: The contents of this report are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the sponsoring organizations.; This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health [R01MH094609], the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences [R01ES022223, P01 ES022832], the National Institutes of Health [R21-ES023073] and a graduate student fellowship from the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society [to S.L.K].
• Keywords: Air pollution; Science & Technology; EXPOSURE; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; FETAL-GROWTH; PRETERM BIRTH; BIRTH-WEIGHT; Environmental Sciences & Ecology; METAANALYSIS; HEART-DISEASE; Placenta; Genomic imprinting; Environmental Sciences; INTRAUTERINE GROWTH RESTRICTION; CHARGE SYNDROME; ASSOCIATIONS; PARTICULATE MATTER PM2.5
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Pathology; Health Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology; Health Sciences, Epidemiology

Abstract

Background Maternal exposure to air pollution is associated with reduced fetal growth, but its relationship with expression of placental imprinted genes (important regulators of fetal growth) has not yet been studied. Objectives To examine relationships between maternal residential air pollution and expression of placental imprinted genes in the Rhode Island Child Health Study (RICHS). Methods Women-infant pairs were enrolled following delivery between 2009 and 2013. We geocoded maternal residential addresses at delivery, estimated daily levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5; n = 355) and black carbon (BC; n = 336) using spatial-temporal models, and estimated residential distance to nearest major roadway (n = 355). Using linear regression models we investigated the associations between each exposure metric and expression of nine candidate genes previously associated with infant birthweight in RICHS, with secondary analyses of a panel of 108 imprinted genes expressed in the placenta. We also explored effect measure modification by infant sex. Results PM2.5 and BC were associated with altered expression for seven and one candidate genes, respectively, previously linked with birthweight in this cohort. Adjusting for multiple comparisons, we found that PM2.5 and BC were associated with changes in expression of 41 and 12 of 108 placental imprinted genes, respectively. Infant sex modified the association between PM2.5 and expression of CHD7 and between proximity to major roadways and expression of ZDBF2. Conclusions We found that maternal exposure to residential PM2.5 and BC was associated with changes in placental imprinted gene expression, which suggests a plausible line of investigation of how air pollution affects fetal growth and development.