Dataset Information

Intrauterine Inflammation and Maternal Exposure to Ambient PM2.5 during Preconception and Specific Periods of Pregnancy: The Boston Birth Cohort.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Prenatal exposure to ambient PM2.5, (i.e., fine particulate matter, aerodynamic diameter ? 2.5 ?m) has been associated with preterm birth and low birth weight. The association between prenatal PM2.5 exposure and intrauterine inflammation (IUI), an important risk factor for preterm birth and neurodevelopmental outcomes, has not been evaluated.

Objectives

We aimed to investigate the association between maternal exposure to PM2.5 and IUI in the Boston Birth Cohort, a predominantly urban low-income minority population.

Methods

This analysis included 5,059 mother-infant pairs in the Boston Birth Cohort. IUI was assessed based on intrapartum fever and placenta pathology. PM2.5 exposure was assigned using data from the U.S. EPA's Air Quality System. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) quantified the association of maternal PM2.5 exposure during preconception and various periods of pregnancy with IUI.

Results

Comparing the highest with the lowest PM2.5 exposure quartiles, the multi-adjusted association with IUI was significant for all exposure periods considered, including 3 months before conception (OR = 1.52; 95% CI: 1.22, 1.89), first trimester (OR = 1.93; 95% CI: 1.55, 2.40), second trimester (OR = 1.67; 95% CI: 1.35, 2.08), third trimester (OR = 1.53; 95% CI: 1.24, 1.90), and whole pregnancy (OR = 1.92; 95% CI: 1.55, 2.37).

Conclusions

Despite relatively low exposures, our results suggest a monotonic positive relationship between PM2.5 exposure during preconception and pregnancy and IUI. IUI may be a sensitive biomarker for assessing early biological effect of PM2.5 exposure on the developing fetus.

Citation

Nachman RM, Mao G, Zhang X, Hong X, Chen Z, Soria CS, He H, Wang G, Caruso D, Pearson C, Biswal S, Zuckerman B, Wills-Karp M, Wang X. 2016. Intrauterine inflammation and maternal exposure to ambient PM2.5 during preconception and specific periods of pregnancy: the Boston Birth Cohort. Environ Health Perspect 124:1608-1615;?http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP243.

SUBMITTER: Nachman RM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5047781 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Intrauterine Inflammation and Maternal Exposure to Ambient PM2.5 during Preconception and Specific Periods of Pregnancy: The Boston Birth Cohort.

Nachman Rebecca Massa RM Mao Guangyun G Zhang Xingyou X Hong Xiumei X Chen Zhu Z Soria Claire Sampankanpanich CS He Huan H Wang Guoying G Caruso Deanna D Pearson Colleen C Biswal Shyam S Zuckerman Barry B Wills-Karp Marsha M Wang Xiaobin X

Environmental health perspectives 20160427 10

<h4>Background</h4>Prenatal exposure to ambient PM2.5, (i.e., fine particulate matter, aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm) has been associated with preterm birth and low birth weight. The association between prenatal PM2.5 exposure and intrauterine inflammation (IUI), an important risk factor for preterm birth and neurodevelopmental outcomes, has not been evaluated.<h4>Objectives</h4>We aimed to investigate the association between maternal exposure to PM2.5 and IUI in the Boston Birth Cohort, a predo ...[more]

PMID: 27120296

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Project description:BackgroundMaternal pre-pregnancy obesity is an established risk factor for childhood obesity. Investigating epigenetic alterations induced by maternal obesity during fetal development could gain mechanistic insight into the developmental origins of childhood obesity. While obesity disproportionately affects underrepresented racial and ethnic mothers and children in the USA, few studies investigated the role of prenatal epigenetic programming in intergenerational obesity of these high-risk populations.MethodsThis study included 903 mother-child pairs from the Boston Birth Cohort, a predominantly urban, low-income minority birth cohort. Mother-infant dyads were enrolled at birth and the children were followed prospectively to age 18 years. Infinium Methylation EPIC BeadChip was used to measure epigenome-wide methylation level of cord blood. We performed an epigenome-wide association study of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and cord blood DNA methylation (DNAm). To quantify the degree to which cord blood DNAm mediates the maternal BMI-childhood obesity, we further investigated whether maternal BMI-associated DNAm sites impact birthweight or childhood overweight or obesity (OWO) from age 1 to age 18 and performed corresponding mediation analyses.ResultsThe study sample contained 52.8% maternal pre-pregnancy OWO and 63.2% offspring OWO at age 1-18 years. Maternal BMI was associated with cord blood DNAm at 8 CpG sites (genome-wide false discovery rate [FDR] < 0.05). After accounting for the possible interplay of maternal BMI and smoking, 481 CpG sites were discovered for association with maternal BMI. Among them 123 CpGs were associated with childhood OWO, ranging from 42% decrease to 87% increase in OWO risk for each SD increase in DNAm. A total of 14 identified CpG sites showed a significant mediation effect on the maternal BMI-child OWO association (FDR < 0.05), with mediating proportion ranging from 3.99% to 25.21%. Several of these 14 CpGs were mapped to genes in association with energy balance and metabolism (AKAP7) and adulthood metabolic syndrome (CAMK2B).ConclusionsThis prospective birth cohort study in a high-risk yet understudied US population found that maternal pre-pregnancy OWO significantly altered DNAm in newborn cord blood and provided suggestive evidence of epigenetic involvement in the intergenerational risk of obesity.

Project description:BackgroundParticulate matter (PM) is detrimental to the respiratory and circulatory systems. However, no study has evaluated the lag effects of weekly exposure to fine PM during the period from preconception to delivery on the risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDPs).ObjectiveWe set out to investigate the lag effect windows of PM on the risk of HDPs on a weekly scale.MethodsData from women with de novo HDPs and normotensive pregnant women who were part of the Peking University Retrospective Birth Cohort, based on the hospital information system of Tongzhou district, were obtained for this study. Meteorological data and data on exposure to fine PM were predicted by satellite remote sensing data based on maternal residential address. The de novo HDP group consisted of pregnant women who were diagnosed with gestational hypertension or preeclampsia. Fine PM was defined as PM2.5 and PM1. The gestational stage of participants was from preconception (starting 12 weeks before gestation) to delivery (before the 42nd gestational week). A distributed-lag nonlinear model (DLNM) was nested in a Cox regression model to evaluate the lag effects of weekly PM exposure on de novo HDP hazard by controlling the nonlinear relationship of exposure-reaction. Stratified analyses by employment status (employed or unemployed), education level (higher or lower), and parity (primiparity or multiparity) were performed.ResultsA total of 22,570 pregnant women (mean age 29.1 years) for whom data were available between 2013 and 2017 were included in this study. The prevalence of de novo HDPs was 6.7% (1520/22,570). Our findings showed that PM1 and PM2.5 were significantly associated with an elevated hazard of HDPs. Exposure to PM1 during the 5th week before gestation to the 6th gestational week increased the hazard of HDPs. A significant lag effect of PM2.5 was observed from the 1st week before gestation to the 6th gestational week. The strongest lag effects of PM1 and PM2.5 on de novo HDPs were observed at week 2 and week 6 (hazard ratio [HR] 1.024, 95% CI 1.007-1.042; HR 1.007, 95% CI 1.000-1.015, respectively, per 10 μg/m3 increase). The stratified analyses indicated that pregnant women who were employed, had low education, and were primiparous were more vulnerable to PM exposure for de novo HDPs.ConclusionsExposure to PM1 and PM2.5 was associated with the risk of de novo HDPs. There were significant lag windows between the preconception period and the first trimester. Women who were employed, had low education, and were primiparous were more vulnerable to the effects of PM exposure; more attention should be paid to these groups for early prevention of de novo HDPs.

Project description:BackgroundPhenol exposure during pregnancy has been associated with preterm birth, but the potential effect of preconception exposure in either parent is unknown. There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that the preconception period is a critical window of vulnerability for adverse pregnancy outcomes.ObjectiveWe examined whether maternal and paternal preconception urinary concentrations of select phenols were associated with the risk of preterm birth among couples attending fertility care.MethodsThe analysis included 417 female and 229 male participants of the Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) Study who gave birth to 418 singleton infants between 2005 and 2018 and for whom we had phenol biomarkers quantified in at least one urine sample collected before conception. Mothers and fathers provided an average of 4 and 3 urine samples during the preconception period, respectively. We calculated the geometric mean of bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol S (BPS), benzophenone-3, triclosan, and the molar sum of parabens (ΣParabens) urinary concentrations to estimate each participant's preconception exposure. Risk ratios (RRs) of preterm birth (live birth before 37 completed weeks' gestation) were estimated using modified Poisson regression models adjusted for covariates.ResultsThe mean (SD) gestational age among singletons was 39.3 (1.7) weeks with 8% born preterm. A natural log-unit increase in maternal preconception BPA (RR 1.94; 95% CI: 1.20, 3.14) and BPS (RR 2.42; 95% CI: 1.01, 5.77) concentration was associated with an increased risk of preterm birth. These associations remained after further adjustment for maternal prenatal and paternal preconception biomarker concentrations. Paternal preconception ΣParabens concentrations showed a possible elevated risk of preterm birth (RR 1.36; 95% CI: 0.94, 1.96). No consistent pattern of association was observed for benzophenone-3 or triclosan biomarkers in either parent.DiscussionMaternal preconception urinary BPA and BPS concentrations, as well as paternal preconception urinary parabens concentrations were prospectively associated with a higher risk of preterm birth. Subfertile couples' exposure to select phenols during the preconception period may be an unrecognized risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Project description:STUDY QUESTION:Are maternal and paternal preconception urinary bisphenol A (BPA) or bisphenol S (BPS) concentrations associated with offspring birth size? SUMMARY ANSWER:Maternal-but not paternal-preconception urinary BPA concentrations were associated with lower birth size among couples seeking fertility evaluation. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY:Prenatal BPA exposure has been previously associated with reduced birth size in some but not all epidemiologic studies. However, the potential effect of BPA exposure before conception in either parent is unknown. Data on BPS is practically absent. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION:Ongoing prospective preconception cohort of women and men seeking fertility evaluation between 2005 and 2016 in a large fertility center in an academic hospital in Boston, MA, USA. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS:We examined the association between maternal and paternal preconception, as well as maternal prenatal urinary BPA and BPS concentrations, and size at birth among 346 singletons from couples recruited in the Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) Study using multivariable linear regression. Infant birth weight and head circumference were abstracted from delivery records. Mean preconception and prenatal exposures were estimated by averaging urinary ln-BPA and ln-BPS concentrations in multiple maternal and paternal urine samples collected before pregnancy, and maternal pregnancy samples collected in each trimester. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE:Maternal preconception urinary BPA concentrations were inversely associated with birth weight and head circumference in adjusted models: each ln-unit increase was associated with a decrease in birth weight of 119 g (95% CI: -212, -27), and a head circumference decrease of 0.72 cm (95% CI: -1.3, -0.1). Additional adjustment by gestational age or prenatal BPA exposure modestly attenuated results. Women with higher prenatal BPA concentrations had infants with lower mean birth weight (-75 g, 95% CI: -153, 2) although this did not achieve statistical significance. Paternal preconception urinary BPA concentrations were not associated with either birth weight or head circumference. No consistent patterns emerged for BPS concentrations measured in either parent. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION:We observed a strong negative association between maternal-but not paternal-preconception BPA concentrations and offspring birth size among a subfertile population. Although these results are overall consistent with prior studies on prenatal BPA exposure, these findings may not be generalizable to women without fertility concerns. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS:This study suggests that the unexplored maternal preconception period may be a sensitive window for BPA effects on birth outcomes. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S):Work supported by Grants (ES R01 009718, ES 022955 and ES 000002) from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). C.M. was supported by a post-doctoral fellowship award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. There are no competing interests to declare.

Dataset Information

Intrauterine Inflammation and Maternal Exposure to Ambient PM2.5 during Preconception and Specific Periods of Pregnancy: The Boston Birth Cohort.

Background

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Citation

Publications

Intrauterine Inflammation and Maternal Exposure to Ambient PM2.5 during Preconception and Specific Periods of Pregnancy: The Boston Birth Cohort.

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