Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances: Association with child behavior in the environmental influences on child health outcomes (ECHO) Cohort.

Background: Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may adversely impact child neurodevelopment; however, epidemiologic findings remain inconclusive because of small sample sizes, limited exposure variability, and differing neurodevelopmental measures. We aimed to investigate the relationship between prenatal PFAS exposure and child behavior.

Methods: We pooled data from nine study sites in the nationwide Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort.

Florida red tides and adverse birth outcomes: Investigating harmful algae as a novel environmental exposure.

Algal blooms have been linked to adverse human health, but little is known about early life exposures. This ecologic study leveraged the 2016-2018 'red tide' blooms to investigate effects on birth outcomes among Florida Gulf coast residents. We estimated K.

Public Water Arsenic and Birth Outcomes in the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes Cohort.

Importance: Inorganic arsenic is associated with adverse birth outcomes, but evidence is limited for public water concentrations (modifiable by federal regulatory action) in US populations.

Objective: To evaluate the association between prenatal public water arsenic exposure below the federal regulatory standard of 10 μg/L and birth outcomes in the US.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study analyzed observational pregnancy cohort data from the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort for birthing parent-infant dyads from 35 pregnancy cohort sites.

Placental cellular composition and umbilical cord tissue metal(loid) concentrations: A descriptive molecular epidemiology study leveraging DNA methylation.

The placenta is a mixture of cell types, which may regulate maternal-fetal transfer of exogenous chemicals or become altered in response to exposures. We leveraged placental DNA methylation to characterize major constituent cell types and applied compositional data analysis to test associations with non-essential metal(loid)s measured in paired umbilical cord tissue (N = 158). Higher proportions of syncytiotrophoblasts were associated with lower arsenic, whereas higher proportions of Hofbauer cells were associated with higher cadmium concentrations in umbilical cords.

Analysis of Pregnancy Complications and Epigenetic Gestational Age of Newborns.

Importance: Preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, and gestational diabetes, the most common pregnancy complications, are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality in mothers and children. Little is known about the biological processes that link the occurrence of these pregnancy complications with adverse child outcomes; altered biological aging of the growing fetus up to birth is one molecular pathway of increasing interest.

Objective: To evaluate whether exposure to each of these 3 pregnancy complications (gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, and preeclampsia) is associated with accelerated or decelerated gestational biological age in children at birth.

Metal mixtures modeling identifies birth weight-associated gene networks in the placentas of children born extremely preterm.

Prenatal exposure to toxic metals is linked to numerous adverse birth and later-in-life outcomes. These outcomes are tied to disrupted biological processes in fetal-derived tissues including the placenta and umbilical cord yet the precise pathways are understudied in these target tissues. We set out to examine the relationship between metal concentrations in umbilical cord and altered gene expression networks in placental tissue.

Prenatal exposure to multiple metallic and metalloid trace elements and the risk of bacterial sepsis in extremely low gestational age newborns: A prospective cohort study.

Background: Prenatal exposures to metallic and metalloid trace elements have been linked to altered immune function in animal studies, but few epidemiologic studies have investigated immunological effects in humans. We evaluated the risk of bacterial sepsis (an extreme immune response to bacterial infection) in relation to prenatal metal/metalloid exposures, individually and jointly, within a US-based cohort of infants born extremely preterm.

Methods: We analyzed data from 269 participants in the US-based ELGAN cohort, which enrolled infants delivered at <28 weeks' gestation (2002-2004).

Epigenetics at the Intersection of COVID-19 Risk and Environmental Chemical Exposures.

Purpose Of Review: Several environmental contaminants have been implicated as contributors to COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. Immunomodulation and epigenetic regulation have been hypothesized as mediators of this relationship, but the precise underlying molecular mechanisms are not well-characterized. This review examines the evidence for epigenetic modification at the intersection of COVID-19 and environmental chemical exposures.

Associations of exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances individually and in mixtures with persistent infections: Recent findings from NHANES 1999-2016.

Certain viruses and parasites can cause persistent infections that often co-occur and have been associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Separate lines of research indicate exposures to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) suppress the immune system. We hypothesized that PFAS exposures might systematically increase susceptibility to persistent infections resulting in a higher pathogen burden.

Occupational Exposures and Cardiac Structure and Function: ECHO-SOL (Echocardiographic Study of Latinos).

Background Our objective was to determine associations of occupational exposures with cardiac structure and function in Hispanic/Latino adults. Methods and Results Employed participants were included (n=782; 52% women, mean age 52.9 years).

Placental CpG Methylation of Inflammation, Angiogenic, and Neurotrophic Genes and Retinopathy of Prematurity.

Purpose: Extremely preterm infants are at increased risk for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). We previously identified several inflammatory proteins that were expressed early in life and are associated with an increased risk of ROP and several angiogenic and neurotrophic growth factors in the neonatal systemic circulation that are associated with a lower risk of ROP. In this paper, we report the results of a set of analyses designed to test the hypothesis that placental CpG methylation levels of 12 inflammation-, angiogenic-, and neurotrophic-associated genes predict the occurrence of prethreshold ROP in extremely preterm newborns.

Predictors of toxic metal exposures among US women of reproductive age.

Background: Arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury are ubiquitous toxicants that may be especially harmful to unborn children. We therefore sought to identify temporal trends and predictors of toxic metal biomarkers among US women of reproductive age, including those who were pregnant and/or breastfeeding.

Methods: Interviews and examinations were performed among a representative sample of women, aged 20-44 years, as part of the 2003-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.

Associations between placental CpG methylation of metastable epialleles and childhood body mass index across ages one, two and ten in the Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborns (ELGAN) cohort.

The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis posits that and early life conditions can disrupt normal fetal development and program susceptibility to later-life disease. Metastable epialleles are genomic loci in which CpG methylation patterning is responsive to maternal diet and conserved across time and tissues. Thus, these sites could serve as 'signatures' of gestational environment conditions.

Changes in blood pressure associated with lead, manganese, and selenium in a Bangladeshi cohort.

Background: Heavy metal contamination is widespread in Bangladesh. Previous studies have observed lead increases blood pressure over time. However, the role of other metal contaminants and essential micronutrients, which could also adversely affect blood pressure or act as protective factors, is understudied.