Associations between prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and thyroid hormones in umbilical cord blood.

We explored the association between maternal urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) metabolites and thyroid hormones in umbilical cord blood in 120 pairs of pregnant women and newborns. Maternal urinary PAH metabolites were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Thyroid hormones were measured using a flow fluorescence assay.

Mitochondrial DNA copy number dynamics and associations with the prenatal environment from birth through adolescence in a population of Dominican and African American children.

Mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn) dynamics throughout childhood are poorly understood. We profiled mtDNAcn from birth through adolescence and evaluated how the prenatal environment influences mtDNAcn across childhood. Data were collected from children from New York City followed through 18 years.

Race Differences in Telomere Length in Benign Prostate Biopsies and Subsequent Risk of Prostate Cancer.

Background: Telomere shortening is linked to aging and may be associated with increased risk for cancer. Most cancer studies have used telomere length in leukocytes rather than in the target tissue of cancer origin.

Methods: A case-control study of 524 case-control pairs with a benign prostate biopsy nested within a historical cohort of 10,478 men was conducted to determine whether premalignant prostate telomere length (assessed using a modified qRT-PCR) is associated with prostate cancer risk.

Prenatal PM Exposure in Relation to Maternal and Newborn Telomere Length at Delivery.

Particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM) is a ubiquitous air pollutant that is increasingly threatening the health of adults and children worldwide. One health impact of elevated PM exposure is alterations in telomere length (TL)-protective caps on chromosome ends that shorten with each cell division.

Racial differences in the systemic inflammatory response to prostate cancer.

Systemic inflammation may increase risk for prostate cancer progression, but the role it plays in prostate cancer susceptibility is unknown. From a cohort of over 10,000 men who had either a prostate biopsy or transurethral resection that yielded a benign finding, we analyzed 517 incident prostate cancer cases identified during follow-up and 373 controls with one or more white blood cell tests during a follow-up period between one and 18 years. Multilevel, multivariable longitudinal models were fit to two measures of systemic inflammation, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), to determine NLR and MLR trajectories associated with increased risk for prostate cancer.

Telomere dynamics across the early life course: Findings from a longitudinal study in children.

Telomeres are protective caps on chromosome ends that shorten with each cell division. Telomere length (TL) predicts the onset of cellular senescence and correlates with longevity and age-related disease risk. Previous research suggests that adults display fixed ranking and tracking of TL by age 20 years, supporting the importance of TL at birth and attrition during childhood.

Growth and differentiation factor 15 and NF-κB expression in benign prostatic biopsies and risk of subsequent prostate cancer detection.

Growth and differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15), also known as macrophage inhibitory cytokine 1 (MIC-1), may act as both a tumor suppressor and promotor and, by regulating NF-κB and macrophage signaling, promote early prostate carcinogenesis. To determine whether expression of these two inflammation-related proteins affect prostate cancer susceptibility, dual immunostaining of benign prostate biopsies for GDF-15 and NF-κB was done in a study of 503 case-control pairs matched on date, age, and race, nested within a historical cohort of 10,478 men. GDF-15 and NF-κB expression levels were positively correlated (r = 0.

The interplay of growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) expression and M2 macrophages during prostate carcinogenesis.

M2 (tumor-supportive) macrophages may upregulate growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), which is highly expressed in prostate tumors, but the combined utility of these markers as prognostic biomarkers are unclear. We retrospectively studied 90 prostate cancer cases that underwent radical prostatectomy as their primary treatment and were followed for biochemical recurrence (BCR). These cases also had a benign prostate biopsy at least 1 year or more before their prostate cancer surgery.

The associations between prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites, umbilical cord blood mitochondrial DNA copy number, and children's neurobehavioral development.

Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during pregnancy is a risk factor for adverse neurobehavioral development outcomes. Mitochondrial DNA are sensitive to environmental toxicants due to the limited ability of repairing. The change of mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn) might be a biologically mechanism linking PAH exposure and children's neurobehavioral impairment.

Prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons modifies the effects of early life stress on attention and Thought Problems in late childhood.

Background: Risk for childhood psychopathology is complex and multifactorial, implicating direct and interacting effects of familial and environmental factors. The role of environmental neurotoxicants in psychiatric risk is of growing concern, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), common in air pollution. Prenatal PAH exposure is linked to adverse physical, behavioral, and cognitive outcomes as well as increasing psychiatric risk.

Contemporary blood lead levels of children aged 0-84 months in China: A national cross-sectional study.

Despite the global abundance of studies on children's lead (Pb) exposure, the magnitude of Pb exposure among children across China remains unclear, especially for rural areas. In 2000, Pb was removed from petrol, marking a change in the sources of Pb exposure in China. To better understand children's Pb exposure and inform potential approaches to exposure reduction, we conducted a national blood Pb survey of 31,373 children (0-84 months old) from May 2013 to March 2015, using a multi-stage and multi-strata sampling method.

A powerful and flexible weighted distance-based method incorporating interactions between DNA methylation and environmental factors on health outcomes.

Motivation: Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation plays a crucial role in human health. Studies have demonstrated associations between DNA methylation and environmental factors with evidence also supporting the idea that DNA methylation may modify the risk of environmental factors on health outcomes. However, due to high dimensionality and low study power, current studies usually focus on finding differential methylation on health outcomes at CpG level or gene level combining multiple CpGs and/or finding environmental effects on health outcomes but ignoring their interactions on health outcomes.

Prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons metabolites, cord blood telomere length, and neonatal neurobehavioral development.

Background: Prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) is a potential risk factor for child neurobehavioral development. Telomere length (TL) has important implications for health over the life course.

Objective: In this study, we aimed to investigate whether prenatal urinary PAH metabolites were associated with adverse neonatal neurobehavioral development and altered cord blood TL and to explore whether the change of TL was a predictor of neonatal neurobehavioral development.

Potential effect of anti-inflammatory drug use on PSA kinetics and subsequent prostate cancer diagnosis: Risk stratification in black and white men with benign prostate biopsy.

Background: Rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels are associated with both increased risk of prostate cancer and prostatic inflammation. The confounding effects of inflammation on the utility of PSA kinetics to predict prostate cancer may be partially mitigated by anti-inflammatory drug use. We investigated the influence of anti-inflammatory drug use on the association of PSA kinetics with prostate cancer risk.

Maternal urinary 2-hydroxynaphthalene and birth outcomes in Taiyuan, China.

Background: Naphthalene is the simplest polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH). It is easily emitted into the atmosphere, posing a significant risk to human health. However, limited studies have described the impact of naphthalene exposure on birth outcomes.

A novel method for source-specific hemoglobin adducts of nitro-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are ubiquitous air pollutants associated with negative impacts on growth, development and behavior in children. Source-specific biological markers of PAH exposure are needed for targeting interventions to protect children. Nitro-derivatives of PAH can act as markers of exposure to diesel exhaust, gasoline exhaust, or general combustion sources.

Using geographical semi-variogram method to quantify the difference between NO and PM spatial distribution characteristics in urban areas.

Urban air pollutant distribution is a concern in environmental and health studies. Particularly, the spatial distribution of NO and PM, which represent photochemical smog and haze pollution in urban areas, is of concern. This paper presents a study quantifying the seasonal differences between urban NO and PM distributions in Foshan, China.

Shorter telomere length in cord blood associated with prenatal air pollution exposure: Benefits of intervention.

Background: To examine the molecular benefits of the government action to close the local coal burning power plant in Tongliang County, Chongqing Municipality, we compared biologic markers and health outcomes in two successive birth cohorts enrolled before and after the plant was shut down. In this city, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were primarily emitted by the coal burning facility. We previously reported that cord blood levels of PAH-DNA adducts (a biomarker of exposure) and various adverse health outcomes were reduced in the second cohort, whereas levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor/BDNF (a protein involved in neuronal growth) were increased.

Combined effects of prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and material hardship on child ADHD behavior problems.

Importance: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are carcinogenic and neurotoxic combustion by-products commonly found in urban air. Exposure to PAH is disproportionately high in low income communities of color who also experience chronic economic stress.

Objective: In a prospective cohort study in New York City (NYC) we previously found a significant association between prenatal PAH exposure and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) behavior problems at age 9.

Environmental Pollutants and Neurodevelopment: Review of Benefits From Closure of a Coal-Burning Power Plant in Tongliang, China.

. Understanding preventable causes of neurodevelopmental disorders is a public health priority. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from combustion of fossil fuel, lead, and mercury are among known neurodevelopmental toxicants.

Larger men have larger prostates: Detection bias in epidemiologic studies of obesity and prostate cancer risk.

Background: Obesity is associated with risk of aggressive prostate cancer (PCa), but not with over-all PCa risk. However, obese men have larger prostates which may lower biopsy accuracy and cause a systematic bias toward the null in epidemiologic studies of over-all risk.

Methods: Within a cohort of 6692 men followed-up after a biopsy or transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) with benign findings, a nested case-control study was conducted of 495 prostate cancer cases and controls matched on age, race, follow-up duration, biopsy versus TURP, and procedure date.

Prenatal airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure, LINE1 methylation and child development in a Chinese cohort.

Background: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are carcinogenic, neurotoxic environmental pollutants generated during incomplete combustion of fossil fuel and other organic material. PAH exposure has been associated with adverse fetal development and epigenetic alterations in cord blood. Several molecular epidemiology studies have established PAH-DNA adducts as biomarkers of PAH exposure.

Significant interactions between maternal PAH exposure and single nucleotide polymorphisms in candidate genes on B[ a ]P-DNA adducts in a cohort of non-smoking Polish mothers and newborns.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are a class of chemicals common in the environment. Certain PAH are carcinogenic, although the degree to which genetic variation influences susceptibility to carcinogenic PAH remains unclear. Also unknown is the influence of genetic variation on the procarcinogenic effect of in utero exposures to PAH.

Association of cadmium in urine and blood with age in a general population with low environmental exposure.

A recent study reported a nonlinear and nonmonotonic relationship between urinary cadmium (U-Cd) and age and questioned the long-held view that U-Cd is a reliable biomarker of Cd body burden at low exposure levels. In order to reassess the significance of U-Cd as biomarker of Cd body burden, we studied the lifetime trend of U-Cd as functions of diuresis in a cross-sectional study. Cadmium was measured with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) for the general population taking part in the Metals and Health Survey in Jiangsu (MHSJ), China, with ages ranging from 2.

Longitudinal effects of prenatal exposure to air pollutants on self-regulatory capacities and social competence.

Background: We evaluated the influence of prenatal exposure to widespread urban air pollutants on the development of self-regulation and social competence in a longitudinal prospective cohort of children born to nonsmoking minority women in New York City.

Methods: Air pollutant exposure was estimated categorically by level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-DNA adducts in maternal blood collected at delivery, providing a biomarker of maternal exposure to PAH over a 2- to 3-month period. Deficient emotional self-regulation (DESR) was defined as moderate elevations on three specific scales of the child behavior checklist (anxious/depressed, aggressive behavior, and attention problems).