Effects of perinatal dioxin exposure on neonatal electroencephalography (EEG) activity of the quiet sleep stage in the most contaminated area from Agent Orange in Vietnam

Alterations in Regional Brain Regional Volume Associated with Dioxin Exposure in Men Living in the Most Dioxin-Contaminated Area in Vietnam: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Analysis Using Voxel-Based Morphometry (VBM)

“…A previous study reported high levels of TCDD in breast milk in Bien Hoa residents (see Materials and Methods, Section 2.1), suggesting that our subjects were exposed to dioxins during the perinatal period. Furthermore, our previous studies reported that dioxin levels in breast milk were associated with neurodevelopment of children [5][6][7][8]. The present results indicated that the residency in Bien Hoa of the subjects' mothers, which suggests that the subjects were subjected to perinatal exposure to dioxins, was significantly associated with changes in gray matter volumes that were not associated with the adulthood blood dioxin levels of the subjects.…”

“…In the areas around Bien Hoa airbase, where TCDD levels in breast milk were two times higher, but TEQ-PCDD/Fs levels were two-thirds of those in Da Nang; we found that boys with high exposure to TCDD and other PCDD congeners showed lower expressive and composite language scores and lower gross motor scores than those in a low exposure group [6]. In 2015, neonatal electroencephalography (EEG) was measured in a group of neonates recruited in the same area, and perinatal dioxin exposure was found to be associated with altered EEG power and coherence, poor neurodevelopment, and poor gaze behavior at 2 years of age [7,8]. These findings suggest that dioxin exposure may influence development of the fetal brain, leading to neurodevelopment disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in later life.…”

Neonatal quantitative electroencephalography and long‐term outcomes: a systematic review

“…61,62 Furthermore, vigilance state, including quiet, active, and intermediate sleep, affects quantitative EEG analysis, 14,63,64 a factor that was considered in only seven of the 24 studies included in this review. 22,23,27,28,37,40,41 A major limitation of this review is the lack of a quantitative synthesis (meta-analysis), which was impeded by heterogeneity in study design. The studies included in this review investigated different study populations, for example, infants born preterm, infants with asphyxia, or infants with tuberous sclerosis complex.…”

“…26 Relative delta power, based on conventional EEG, in the left occipital area in infants born at term during active sleep was negatively associated with motor outcome (Bayley-III), whereas relative alpha power in the left parieto-occipital and right temporo-occipital areas showed a positive association. 28 Castro Conde et al showed a positive association between relative delta/alpha power ratio (i.e. relatively higher power in the lower-frequency bands) and motor outcome (Bayley-III) in infants born at term small for gestational age and infants born preterm appropriate for gestational age, 29 whereas El Ters et al showed that it was favourable to have a spectral edge frequency at 90% above 9.2Hz (indicating higher power at higher frequencies) in infants born extremely preterm.…”

“…27,28 Pham et al showed that, during quiet sleep, conventional EEG-based relative delta power in the occipital area of the left hemisphere was negatively associated with language performance at 26 months of age. 28 By contrast, both the study by Nghiem et al, where EEG data were analysed during active sleep in infants born at term, and the study by Castro Conde et al, where infants born at term who were small for gestational age and infants born preterm with birthweight appropriate for gestational age were investigated, showed that language performance at 2 years of age was positively associated with relative delta power. 27,29 Furthermore, language performance at 2 years of age was negatively associated with relative alpha power in infants born preterm and at term.…”