Epigenetics: linking social and environmental exposures to preterm birth

Burris, Heather H.; Baccarelli, Andrea; Wright, Robert O.; Wright, Rosalind J.

doi:10.1038/pr.2015.191

Cited by 49 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Chow et al found that cancers (except for acute lymphoblastic leukemia) were 28% more common in black children than white in the United States based on 13,249 cancer cases and 36,996 controls from five U.S. states between 1978 and 2004 [138]. However, the ultimate role that environmental exposures, genes, diet, and social conditions play in the etiology and mechanistic development of various cancers, pre-term birth, and other childhood diseases may be difficult to determine [139]. …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of the Field on Children’s Exposure to Environmental Contaminants: A Risk Assessment Approach

Ferguson

Penney

Solo‐Gabriele

2017

IJERPH

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Background: Children must be recognized as a sensitive population based on having biological systems and organs in various stages of development. The processes of absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination of environmental contaminants within a child’s body are considered less advanced than those of adults, making them more susceptible to disease outcomes following even small doses. Children’s unique activities of crawling and practicing increased hand-to-mouth ingestion also make them vulnerable to greater exposures by certain contaminants within specific environments. Approach: There is a need to review the field of children’s environmental exposures in order to understand trends and identify gaps in research, which may lead to better protection of this vulnerable and sensitive population. Therefore, explored here are previously published contemporary works in the broad area of children’s environmental exposures and potential impact on health from around the world. A discussion of children’s exposure to environmental contaminants is best organized under the last four steps of a risk assessment approach: hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment (including children’s activity patterns) and risk characterization. We first consider the many exposure hazards that exist in the indoor and outdoor environments, and emerging contaminants of concern that may help guide the risk assessment process in identifying focus areas for children. A section on special diseases of concern is also included. Conclusions: The field of children’s exposures to environmental contaminants is broad. Although there are some well-studied areas offering much insight into children exposures, research is still needed to further our understanding of exposures to newer compounds, growing disease trends and the role of gene-environment interactions that modify adverse health outcomes. It is clear that behaviors of adults and children play a role in reducing or increasing a child’s exposure, where strategies to better communicate and implement risk modifying behaviors are needed, and can be more effective than implementing changes in the physical environment.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of the Field on Children’s Exposure to Environmental Contaminants: A Risk Assessment Approach

Ferguson

Penney

Solo‐Gabriele

2017

IJERPH

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“…If environmental factors affect DNA methylation, it follows that this may be one of the mechanisms by which the environment affects gene expression and then subsequent health and potentially its associated disparities. 16 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epigenetics and Health Disparities

Vick

Burris

2017

Curr Epidemiol Rep

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Purpose of review African Americans disproportionately suffer from leading causes of morbidity and mortality including cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, and preterm birth. Disparities can arise from multiple social and environmental exposures, but how the human body responds to these exposures to result in pathophysiologic states is incompletely understood. Recent findings Epigenetic mechanisms, particularly DNA methylation, can be altered in response to exposures such as air pollution, psychosocial stress, and smoking. Each of these exposures has been linked to the above health states (CVD, cancer, and preterm birth) with striking racial disparities in exposure levels. DNA methylation patterns have also been shown to be associated with each of these health outcomes. Summary Whether DNA methylation mediates exposure-disease relationships and can help explain racial disparities in health is not known. However, because many environmental and adverse social exposures disproportionately affect minorities, understanding the role that epigenetics plays in the human response to these exposures that often result in disease, is critical to reducing disparities in morbidity and mortality.

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“…Disadvantage often coincides with exposure to psychological stressors and environmental toxins, and higher rates of cigarette smoking, obesity, and inadequate nutrition (Evans 2004). These exposures can affect characteristics of the gestational milieu (Wadhwa et al 2011; Burris et al 2016; Hanson & Gluckman 2014). Consistent with this premise, two recent studies observed that mothers’ socioeconomic conditions during childhood presaged their subsequent pregnancy outcomes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mothers’ childhood hardship forecasts adverse pregnancy outcomes: Role of inflammatory, lifestyle, and psychosocial pathways

Miller¹,

Culhane

Grobman³

et al. 2017

Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

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Research suggests the health consequences of economic hardship can be transmitted across generations. Some of these disparities are thought to be passed to offspring during gestation. But this hypothesis has not been tested in contemporary American samples, and the mechanisms of transmission have not been characterized. Accordingly, this study had two goals: first, to determine if women exposed to economic hardship during childhood showed higher rates of adverse birth outcomes; and second, to evaluate the contribution of inflammation, psychosocial, lifestyle, and obstetric characteristics to this phenomenon. This prospective study enrolled 744 women with singleton pregnancies (59.1% White; 16.3% Black; 18.7% Latina; 5.9% Other). Childhood economic hardship was measured by self-report. Birth outcomes included length of gestation and incidence of preterm birth; birth weight percentile and small for gestational age; length of hospital stay and admission to Special Care Nursery. Analyses revealed that mothers’ childhood economic hardship was independently associated with multiple adverse birth outcomes, even following adjustment for demographics, maternal education, and obstetrical confounders. Women raised in economically disadvantaged conditions had shorter gestation length and higher preterm delivery rates. Their babies had lower birth weights, were more likely to be small for gestational age, stayed in the hospital longer, and had more Special Care Nursery admissions. Mediation analyses suggested these associations arose through multiple pathways, and highlighted roles for inflammation, education, adiposity, and obstetric complications. Collectively, these findings suggest that childhood economic hardship predisposes women to adverse birth outcomes, and highlights likely behavioral and biological mechanisms.

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Epigenetics: linking social and environmental exposures to preterm birth

Cited by 49 publications

References 42 publications

A Review of the Field on Children’s Exposure to Environmental Contaminants: A Risk Assessment Approach

A Review of the Field on Children’s Exposure to Environmental Contaminants: A Risk Assessment Approach

Epigenetics and Health Disparities

Mothers’ childhood hardship forecasts adverse pregnancy outcomes: Role of inflammatory, lifestyle, and psychosocial pathways

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