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Day DB, LeWinn KZ, Karr CJ, Loftus CT, Carroll KN, Bush NR, Zhao Q, Barrett ES, Swan SH, Nguyen RHN, Trasande L, Moore PE, Adams Ako A, Ji N, Liu C, Szpiro AA, Sathyanarayana S. Subpopulations of children with multiple chronic health outcomes in relation to chemical exposures in the ECHO-PATHWAYS consortium. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2024; 185:108486. [PMID: 38367551 PMCID: PMC10961192 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2023] [Revised: 02/01/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/19/2024]
Abstract
A multimorbidity-focused approach may reflect common etiologic mechanisms and lead to better targeting of etiologic agents for broadly impactful public health interventions. Our aim was to identify clusters of chronic obesity-related, neurodevelopmental, and respiratory outcomes in children, and to examine associations between cluster membership and widely prevalent chemical exposures to demonstrate our epidemiologic approach. Early to middle childhood outcome data collected 2011-2022 for 1092 children were harmonized across the ECHO-PATHWAYS consortium of 3 prospective pregnancy cohorts in six U.S. cities. 15 outcomes included age 4-9 BMI, cognitive and behavioral assessment scores, speech problems, and learning disabilities, asthma, wheeze, and rhinitis. To form generalizable clusters across study sites, we performed k-means clustering on scaled residuals of each variable regressed on study site. Outcomes and demographic variables were summarized between resulting clusters. Logistic weighted quantile sum regressions with permutation test p-values associated odds of cluster membership with a mixture of 15 prenatal urinary phthalate metabolites in full-sample and sex-stratified models. Three clusters emerged, including a healthier Cluster 1 (n = 734) with low morbidity across outcomes; Cluster 2 (n = 192) with low IQ and higher levels of all outcomes, especially 0.4-1.8-standard deviation higher mean neurobehavioral outcomes; and Cluster 3 (n = 179) with the highest asthma (92 %), wheeze (53 %), and rhinitis (57 %) frequencies. We observed a significant positive, male-specific stratified association (odds ratio = 1.6; p = 0.01) between a phthalate mixture with high weights for MEP and MHPP and odds of membership in Cluster 3 versus Cluster 1. These results identified subpopulations of children with co-occurring elevated levels of BMI, neurodevelopmental, and respiratory outcomes that may reflect shared etiologic pathways. The observed association between phthalates and respiratory outcome cluster membership could inform policy efforts towards children with respiratory disease. Similar cluster-based epidemiology may identify environmental factors that impact multi-outcome prevalence and efficiently direct public policy efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Drew B Day
- Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, 1920 Terry Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101, USA.
| | - Kaja Z LeWinn
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 675 18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Catherine J Karr
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Washington, 4245 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105, USA; Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, 4245 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, 4245 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Christine T Loftus
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Washington, 4245 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Kecia N Carroll
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Nicole R Bush
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 675 18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Qi Zhao
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Division of Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 66 North Pauline Street, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
| | - Emily S Barrett
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Rutgers School of Public Health, 683 Hoes Lane West, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA; Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, 170 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Shanna H Swan
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Ruby H N Nguyen
- Department of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, 420 Delaware Street Southeast, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA
| | - Leonardo Trasande
- Department of Pediatrics, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, 550 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Paul E Moore
- Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 2200 Children's Way, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Ako Adams Ako
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital at Montefiore, 3415 Bainbridge Avenue, Bronx, NY 10467, USA
| | - Nan Ji
- Division of Environmental Health, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 1845 N Soto St, MC 9239, Los Angeles, CA, 90039, USA
| | - Chang Liu
- Department of Psychology, Washington State University, Johnson Tower, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
| | - Adam A Szpiro
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, 3980 15th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Sheela Sathyanarayana
- Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, 1920 Terry Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101, USA; Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Washington, 4245 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105, USA; Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, 4245 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, 4245 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
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SHEN X, TANG W, LIU J, AO J, LIU X, HUANG X, QIU J, ZHANG J, ZHANG Q. [Association analysis between mixed exposure to phenols and semen quality]. Se Pu 2024; 42:203-210. [PMID: 38374601 PMCID: PMC10877479 DOI: 10.3724/sp.j.1123.2023.09009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Phenols such as bisphenols, parabens, and triclosan are common environmental endocrine disruptors. Previous epidemiological studies have suggested that phenols may affect semen quality, but the results were inconsistent. In addition, most existing studies have been limited to the effects of a single chemical compound, ignoring the health effects of mixed exposure to multiple chemicals. Thus, we aimed to explore the associations between individual and mixed exposure to phenols and various semen quality parameters. In this study, a rapid and sensitive method was used to determine 18 phenolic compounds in urine samples of 799 volunteers who donated sperm samples to the Shanghai Human Sperm Bank. A spot urine sample was collected from each subject on the day of their clinic visit and stored at -20 ℃ until testing. Urine samples (200 μL) were extracted and added with 20 μL of an internal standard and 50 μL of β-glucuronidase solution. The mixtures were then incubated for 12 h at 37 ℃. After hydrolysis, the samples were extracted twice using ethyl acetate (500 μL). The concentrations of the 18 phenolic compounds were measured using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Semen quality parameters were analyzed using a computer-aided semen analyzer. Multiple linear regressions were used to detect the associations between individual phenol exposure and semen quality parameters. In addition, weighted quantile sum (WQS) models were used to explore the associations between mixed-phenol exposure and semen quality parameters. After adjusting for potential covariates, the results of multiple linear regressions showed that exposure to ethyl paraben (EtP) was significantly negatively associated with sperm concentration and total sperm count (P<0.05). In addition, exposure to mixed phenols was significantly associated with decreased sperm concentration; methyl paraben (MeP) and EtP were identified as the main contributors to this decrease. Thus, phenol exposure may be associated with decreased semen quality in young males, particularly with respect to sperm concentration and total sperm count.
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Shen X, Zhan M, Wang Y, Tang W, Zhang Q, Zhang J. Exposure to parabens and semen quality in reproductive-aged men. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2023; 264:115453. [PMID: 37688867 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Revised: 09/02/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 09/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Parabens are common preservatives in personal care products, cosmetics, and medical goods. In the past few years, animal studies showed the male reproductive toxicity associated with some parabens. Yet, epidemiological studies have generated inconsistent findings and research rarely has focused on the mixture effects of the parabens. We aimed to explore the associations between individual paraben exposure as well as the mixture and semen quality parameters. METHODS A total of 795 male partners from preconception couples were included in the study. Their urine samples were analyzed for the concentrations of six parabens, namely methyl paraben (MeP), ethyl paraben (EtP), propyl paraben (PrP), butyl paraben (BuP), benzyl paraben (BzP) and heptyl paraben (HeP). Multiple linear regression models and weighted quantile sum regression (WQS) models were utilized to assess the relationships between individual paraben exposure and paraben mixture with semen quality parameters, respectively. RESULTS After adjusting for covariates, exposure to a paraben mixture was significantly associated with declining sperm concentration, total sperm count, and progressive motility, among which BuP was identified as the main contributor to sperm concentration and total sperm count while MeP to progressive motility. Results from multiple linear regression models were generally in line with the WQS analysis. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest negative associations between paraben mixture and sperm concentration, total sperm count, and sperm motility among reproductive-aged men.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoli Shen
- Ministry of Education-Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; Ministry of Education-Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Ming Zhan
- Pudong New Area Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai 200136, China
| | - Yuqing Wang
- Ministry of Education-Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Weifeng Tang
- Ministry of Education-Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Qianlong Zhang
- Ministry of Education-Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Jun Zhang
- Ministry of Education-Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; Ministry of Education-Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
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Payne-Sturges DC, Taiwo TK, Ellickson K, Mullen H, Tchangalova N, Anderko L, Chen A, Swanson M. Disparities in Toxic Chemical Exposures and Associated Neurodevelopmental Outcomes: A Scoping Review and Systematic Evidence Map of the Epidemiological Literature. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2023; 131:96001. [PMID: 37754677 PMCID: PMC10525348 DOI: 10.1289/ehp11750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Revised: 07/29/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 09/28/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Children are routinely exposed to chemicals known or suspected of harming brain development. Targeting Environmental Neuro-Development Risks (Project TENDR), an alliance of > 50 leading scientists, health professionals, and advocates, is working to protect children from these toxic chemicals and pollutants, especially the disproportionate exposures experienced by children from families with low incomes and families of color. OBJECTIVE This scoping review was initiated to map existing literature on disparities in neurodevelopmental outcomes for U.S. children from population groups who have been historically economically/socially marginalized and exposed to seven exemplar neurotoxicants: combustion-related air pollution (AP), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), organophosphate pesticides (OPs), phthalates (Phth), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). METHODS Systematic literature searches for the seven exemplar chemicals, informed by the Population, Exposure, Comparator, Outcome (PECO) framework, were conducted through 18 November 2022, using PubMed, CINAHL Plus (EBSCO), GreenFILE (EBSCO), and Web of Science sources. We examined these studies regarding authors' conceptualization and operationalization of race, ethnicity, and other indicators of sociodemographic and socioeconomic disadvantage; whether studies presented data on exposure and outcome disparities and the patterns of those disparities; and the evidence of effect modification by or interaction with race and ethnicity. RESULTS Two hundred twelve individual studies met the search criteria and were reviewed, resulting in 218 studies or investigations being included in this review. AP and Pb were the most commonly studied exposures. The most frequently identified neurodevelopmental outcomes were cognitive and behavioral/psychological. Approximately a third (74 studies) reported investigations of interactions or effect modification with 69% (51 of 74 studies) reporting the presence of interactions or effect modification. However, less than half of the studies presented data on disparities in the outcome or the exposure, and fewer conducted formal tests of heterogeneity. Ninety-two percent of the 165 articles that examined race and ethnicity did not provide an explanation of their constructs for these variables, creating an incomplete picture. DISCUSSION As a whole, the studies we reviewed indicated a complex story about how racial and ethnic minority and low-income children may be disproportionately harmed by exposures to neurotoxicants, and this has implications for targeting interventions, policy change, and other necessary investments to eliminate these health disparities. We provide recommendations on improving environmental epidemiological studies on environmental health disparities. To achieve environmental justice and health equity, we recommend concomitant strategies to eradicate both neurotoxic chemical exposures and systems that perpetuate social inequities. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP11750.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Kristie Ellickson
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
- Union of Concerned Scientists, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Haley Mullen
- Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | | | - Laura Anderko
- M. Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Aimin Chen
- Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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Herrin MA, Sherris AR, Dearborn LC, Loftus CT, Szpiro AA, Moore PE, Adgent MA, Barrett ES, Nguyen RHN, Carroll KN, Karr CJ. Association between maternal occupational exposure to cleaning chemicals during pregnancy and childhood wheeze and asthma. FRONTIERS IN EPIDEMIOLOGY 2023; 3:1166174. [PMID: 38045485 PMCID: PMC10691794 DOI: 10.3389/fepid.2023.1166174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Abstract
Background Asthma is a leading cause of childhood morbidity in the U.S. and a significant public health concern. The prenatal period is a critical window during which environmental influences, including maternal occupational exposures, can shape child respiratory health. Cleaning chemicals are commonly encountered in occupational settings, yet few studies have examined the potential link between prenatal occupational exposures to cleaning chemicals and risk of childhood wheeze and asthma. Methods We evaluated the potential influence of maternal occupational exposure to cleaning chemicals during pregnancy on pediatric asthma and wheeze at child age 4-6 years in 453 mother-child pairs from two longitudinal pregnancy cohorts, TIDES and GAPPS, part of the ECHO prenatal and early childhood pathways to health (ECHO-PATHWAYS) consortium. Maternal occupational exposure to cleaning chemicals was defined based on reported occupation and frequency of occupational use of chemicals during pregnancy. Child current wheeze and asthma outcomes were defined by parental responses to a widely-used, standardized respiratory outcomes questionnaire administered at child age 4-6 years. Multivariable Poisson regression with robust standard errors was used to estimate relative risk (RR) of asthma in models adjusted for confounding. Effect modification by child sex was assessed using product interaction terms. Results Overall, 116 mothers (25.6%) reported occupational exposure to cleaning chemicals during pregnancy, 11.7% of children had current wheeze, and 10.2% had current asthma. We did not identify associations between prenatal exposure to cleaning chemicals and current wheeze [RRadjusted 1.03, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.56, 1.90] or current asthma (RRadjusted 0.89, CI: 0.46, 1.74) in the overall sample. Analyses of effect modification suggested an adverse association among females for current wheeze (RR 1.82, CI: 0.76, 4.37), compared to males (RR 0.68, CI: 0.29, 1.58), though the interaction p-value was >0.05. Conclusion We did not observe evidence of associations between maternal prenatal occupational exposure to cleaning chemicals and childhood wheeze or asthma in the multi-site ECHO-PATHWAYS consortium. We leveraged longitudinal U.S. pregnancy cohorts with rich data characterization to expand on limited and mixed literature. Ongoing research is needed to more precisely characterize maternal occupational chemical exposures and impacts on child health in larger studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa A Herrin
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Allison R Sherris
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Logan C Dearborn
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Christine T Loftus
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Adam A Szpiro
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Paul E Moore
- Division of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Margaret A Adgent
- Department of Health Policy, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Emily S Barrett
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
- Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
| | - Ruby H N Nguyen
- Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Kecia N Carroll
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Catherine J Karr
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
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Paquette AG, Lapehn S, Freije S, MacDonald J, Bammler T, Day DB, Loftus CT, Kannan K, Alex Mason W, Bush NR, LeWinn KZ, Enquobahrie DA, Marsit C, Sathyanarayana S. Placental transcriptomic signatures of prenatal exposure to Hydroxy-Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2023; 172:107763. [PMID: 36689866 PMCID: PMC10211546 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.107763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous pollutants originating from petrogenic and pyrogenic sources. PAH compounds can cross the placenta, and prenatal PAH exposure is linked to adverse infant and childhood health outcomes. OBJECTIVE In this first human transcriptomic assessment of PAHs in the placenta, we examined associations between prenatal PAH exposure and placental gene expression to gain insight into mechanisms by which PAHs may disrupt placental function. METHODS The ECHO PATHWAYS Consortium quantified prenatal PAH exposure and the placental transcriptome from 629 pregnant participants enrolled in the CANDLE study. Concentrations of 12 monohydroxy-PAH (OH-PAH) metabolites were measured in mid-pregnancy urine using high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Placental transcriptomic data were obtained using paired-end RNA sequencing. Linear models were fitted to estimate covariate-adjusted associations between maternal urinary OH-PAHs and placental gene expression. We performed sex-stratified analyses to evaluate whether associations varied by fetal sex. Selected PAH/gene expression analyses were validated by treating HTR-8/SVneo cells with phenanthrene, and quantifying expression via qPCR. RESULTS Urinary concentrations of 6 OH-PAHs were associated with placental expression of 8 genes. Three biological pathways were associated with 4 OH-PAHs. Placental expression of SGF29 and TRIP13 as well as the vitamin digestion and absorption pathway were positively associated with multiple metabolites. HTR-8/SVneo cells treated with phenanthrene also exhibited 23 % increased TRIP13 expression compared to vehicle controls (p = 0.04). Fetal sex may modify the relationship between prenatal OH-PAHs and placental gene expression, as more associations were identified in females than males (45 vs 28 associations). DISCUSSION Our study highlights novel genes whose placental expression may be disrupted by OH-PAHs. Increased expression of DNA damage repair gene TRIP13 may represent a response to double-stranded DNA breaks. Increased expression of genes involved in vitamin digestion and metabolism may reflect dietary exposures or represent a compensatory mechanism to combat damage related to OH-PAH toxicity. Further work is needed to study the role of these genes in placental function and their links to perinatal outcomes and lifelong health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison G Paquette
- Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA; University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | | | | | | | | | - Drew B Day
- Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | - W Alex Mason
- University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Nicole R Bush
- University of California San Francisco, San Francisco CA, USA
| | - Kaja Z LeWinn
- University of California San Francisco, San Francisco CA, USA
| | | | | | - Sheela Sathyanarayana
- Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA; University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
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