Effect of metal co-exposures on DNA methylation age in Bangladeshi children
Year: 2021
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: BACKGROUND AND AIM: The ubiquitous presence of toxic metal exposures in the environment is a global public health concern. Lead, chromium, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury are commonly occurring toxic environmental metal exposures in the general population. These metal exposures appear among the top 20 of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Substance Priority List, prioritizing substances based on a combination of their frequency, toxicity, and potential for human exposure. Observations from population studies support associations between select metal exposures and cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. Research on the childhood origins of cardiovascular diseases shows that early life factors influence cardiovascular risk over the life course. Furthermore, emerging evidence of environmental factors eliciting biological aging, such as alterations to DNA methylation, supports this as a potential mechanism for how early life metal exposures can affect cardiometabolic health later in life. This study evaluates the associations between metal exposures and DNA methylation age among 500 Bangladeshi children aged 5-7 years enrolled in the Bangladesh Environmental Research in Children’s Health (BiRCH) cohort. METHODS: We investigated the associations between five metals, measured in toenails, and DNA methylation age based on Horvath estimation using linear regression models (single-metal model and mutually-adjusted model). Additionally, principal component analysis (PCA), weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression, and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) were conducted as secondary analyses to test the robustness of findings and potential exposure patterns. RESULTS:Arsenic and chromium were positively associated with DNA methylation age. Secondary analyses examining metal mixtures yielded similar results. CONCLUSIONS:Findings from linear regression modeling and secondary analyses using PCA, WQS, and BKMR, suggest biological aging may serve as an important mechanism for arsenic and chromium toxicity. Future research is needed to evaluate the inter-related roles of metal exposures, biological aging, and cardiometabolic health across the life course. KEYWORDS: metals, epigenetic aging, DNA methylation, children's health
Source: ISEE Conference Abstracts
Authors: Maria Argos, Muhammad Kibriya, Farzana Jasmine, Brian Jackson, Mohammad Hasan Shahriar, Golam Sarwar, Habibul Ahsan
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W3195832201