Exposure to per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances in association to later occurrence of type 2 diabetes and metabolic pathway dysregulation in a multiethnic US population.

Background: Growing evidence suggests that exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D); however, the effect of PFAS mixtures and underlying mechanisms are not well understood. We examined the associations between exposure to PFAS mixture with later T2D diagnosis and underlying metabolic dysregulations.

Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study within BioMe, an electronic health record-linked biobank of >65,000 patients seeking primary care at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, since 2007.

Ultra-Processed Food Intake is Associated with Altered Glucose Homeostasis in Young Adults.

Background: Ultra-processed foods (UPFs), often high in sodium, sugar, and unhealthy fats, compose more than half of total dietary energy consumption in the United States. A diet composed of a high amount of UPFs can contribute to glucose dysregulation and insulin resistance, which may lead to prediabetes and type 2 diabetes (T2D). The goal of this study is to examine associations between UPF consumption and prediabetes and related biomarkers in youth.

Meet-in-the-middle meets multi-omics identifying molecular signatures of environmental drivers of childhood overweight.

Background: Obesity is a multi-cause chronic disease recognized across the lifespan, with childhood obesity prevalence rising over the past decades. Although exposome-wide association studies have identified early-life environmental drivers of child obesity, and explored the multi-omics signatures of the exposome of children, it is understudied whether the combined effects of multiple exposures are potentially mediated by multi-omics.

Methods: Within the Human Early Life Exposome (HELIX) project, 1041 mother-child pairs were surveyed for a wide range of environmental exposures including over 354 prenatal and childhood exposures.

Ambient air pollution and childhood obesity from infancy to late childhood: An individual participant data meta-analysis of 10 European birth cohorts.

Ambient air pollution may contribute to childhood obesity through various mechanisms. However, few longitudinal studies examined the relationship between pre- and postnatal exposure to air pollution and obesity outcomes in childhood. We aimed to investigate the association between pre- and postnatal exposure to air pollution and body mass index (BMI) and the risk of overweight/obesity throughout childhood in European cohorts.

Advancing translational exposomics: bridging genome, exposome and personalized medicine.

Understanding the interplay between genetic predisposition and environmental and lifestyle exposures is essential for advancing precision medicine and public health. The exposome, defined as the sum of all environmental exposures an individual encounters throughout their lifetime, complements genomic data by elucidating how external and internal exposure factors influence health outcomes. This treatise highlights the emerging discipline of translational exposomics that integrates exposomics and genomics, offering a comprehensive approach to decipher the complex relationships between environmental and lifestyle exposures, genetic variability, and disease phenotypes.

The multi-omics signatures of telomere length in childhood.

Background: Telomere length is an important indicator of biological age and a complex multi-factor trait. To date, the telomere interactome for comprehending the high-dimensional biological aspects linked to telomere regulation during childhood remains unexplored. Here we describe the multi-omics signatures associated with childhood telomere length.

A meta-analysis of epigenome-wide association studies of ultra-processed food consumption with DNA methylation in European children.

Background/objective: There is limited knowledge on how diet affects the epigenome of children. Ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption is emerging as an important factor impacting health, but mechanisms need to be uncovered. We therefore aimed to assess the association between UPF consumption and DNA methylation in children.

Childhood exposure to non-persistent endocrine disruptors, glucocorticosteroids, and attentional function: A cross-sectional study based on the parametric g-formula.

Background: Evidence suggests that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may perturb the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis, which has a major role in brain development. We aimed to evaluate the effects of childhood exposure to organophosphate pesticides, phenols, and phthalate metabolites, on urinary glucocorticosteroids and inattention in childhood.

Methods: We used data from the Human Early-Life Exposome (HELIX) cohort (2013-2016) and the parametric g-formula to estimate associations between EDCs, glucocorticosteroids, and hit reaction time standard error (HRT-SE), a measure of inattention, and tested for possible effect modification by sex.

The potential mediating role of the gut microbiome and metabolites in the association between PFAS and kidney function in young adults: A proof-of-concept study.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects over 10 % of the global population and can lead to kidney failure and death. Exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is associated with increased risk of CKD, yet studies examining the mechanisms linking PFAS and kidney function are lacking. In this exploratory study, we examined longitudinal associations of PFAS exposure with kidney function, and tested if associations were mediated by altered gut bacterial taxa or plasma metabolites using a multi-omics mediation analysis.

Integrating Multi-Omics with environmental data for precision health: A novel analytic framework and case study on prenatal mercury induced childhood fatty liver disease.

Background: Precision Health aims to revolutionize disease prevention by leveraging information across multiple omic datasets (multi-omics). However, existing methods generally do not consider personalized environmental risk factors (e.g.

Machine learning-based health environmental-clinical risk scores in European children.

Background: Early life environmental stressors play an important role in the development of multiple chronic disorders. Previous studies that used environmental risk scores (ERS) to assess the cumulative impact of environmental exposures on health are limited by the diversity of exposures included, especially for early life determinants. We used machine learning methods to build early life exposome risk scores for three health outcomes using environmental, molecular, and clinical data.

Prenatal Exposure to Chemical Mixtures and Metabolic Syndrome Risk in Children.

Importance: Prenatal exposure to ubiquitous endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may increase the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in children, but few studies have studied chemical mixtures or explored underlying protein and metabolic signatures.

Objective: To investigate associations of prenatal exposure to EDC mixtures with MetS risk score in children and identify associated proteins and metabolites.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This population-based, birth cohort study used data collected between April 1, 2003, and February 26, 2016, from the Human Early Life Exposome cohort based in France, Greece, Lithuania, Norway, Spain, and the UK.

Environmental pollutant risk factors for worse COVID-19 related clinical outcomes in predominately hispanic and latino populations.

Background: Per- and poly-fluorinated compounds (PFAS) and heavy metals constitute two classes of environmental exposures with known immunotoxicant effects. In this pilot study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of exposure to heavy metals and PFAS on COVID-19 severity. We hypothesized that elevated plasma-PFAS concentrations and urinary heavy metal concentrations would be associated with increased odds of ICU admission in COVID-19 hospitalized individuals.

Metal mixture exposures and serum lipid levels in childhood: the Rhea mother-child cohort in Greece.

Background: Growing evidence suggests that cardiovascular disease develops over the lifetime, often beginning in childhood. Metal exposures have been associated with cardiovascular disease and important risk factors, including dyslipidemia, but prior studies have largely focused on adult populations and single metal exposures.

Objective: To investigate the individual and joint impacts of multiple metal exposures on lipid levels during childhood.

Associations of dietary intake and longitudinal measures of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in predominantly Hispanic young Adults: A multicohort study.

Background: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are pollutants linked to adverse health effects. Diet is an important source of PFAS exposure, yet it is unknown how diet impacts longitudinal PFAS levels.

Objective: To determine if dietary intake and food sources were associated with changes in blood PFAS concentrations among Hispanic young adults at risk of metabolic diseases.

Associations between combined urban and lifestyle factors and respiratory health in European children.

Introduction: Previous studies identified some environmental and lifestyle factors independently associated with children respiratory health, but few focused on exposure mixture effects. This study aimed at identifying, in pregnancy and in childhood, combined urban and lifestyle environment profiles associated with respiratory health in children.

Methods: This study is based on the European Human Early-Life Exposome (HELIX) project, combining six birth cohorts.

Postprandial Metabolite Profiles and Risk of Prediabetes in Young People: A Longitudinal Multicohort Study.

Objective: Prediabetes in young people is an emerging epidemic that disproportionately impacts Hispanic populations. We aimed to develop a metabolite-based prediction model for prediabetes in young people with overweight/obesity at risk for type 2 diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: In independent, prospective cohorts of Hispanic youth (discovery; n = 143 without baseline prediabetes) and predominately Hispanic young adults (validation; n = 56 without baseline prediabetes), we assessed prediabetes via 2-h oral glucose tolerance tests.

The contribution to policies of an exposome-based approach to childhood obesity.

Childhood obesity is an increasingly severe public health problem, with a prospective impact on health. We propose an exposome approach to identify actionable risk factors for this condition. Our assumption is that relationships between external exposures and outcomes such as rapid growth, overweight, or obesity in children can be better understood through a "meet-in-the-middle" model.