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He X, Smith MR, Jarrell ZR, Thi Ly V, Liang Y, Lee CM, Orr M, Go YM, Jones DP. Metabolic alterations and mitochondrial dysfunction in human airway BEAS-2B cells exposed to vanadium pentoxide. Toxicology 2024; 504:153772. [PMID: 38479551 DOI: 10.1016/j.tox.2024.153772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2023] [Revised: 02/25/2024] [Accepted: 03/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/24/2024]
Abstract
Vanadium pentoxide (V+5) is a hazardous material that has drawn considerable attention due to its wide use in industrial sectors and increased release into environment from human activities. It poses potential adverse effects on animals and human health, with pronounced impact on lung physiology and functions. In this study, we investigated the metabolic response of human bronchial epithelial BEAS-2B cells to low-level V+5 exposure (0.01, 0.1, and 1 ppm) using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS). Exposure to V+5 caused extensive changes to cellular metabolism in BEAS-2B cells, including TCA cycle, glycolysis, fatty acids, amino acids, amino sugars, nucleotide sugar, sialic acid, vitamin D3, and drug metabolism, without causing cell death. Altered mitochondrial structure and function were observed with as low as 0.01 ppm (0.2 μM) V+5 exposure. In addition, decreased level of E-cadherin, the prototypical epithelial marker of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), was observed following V+5 treatment, supporting potential toxicity of V+5 at low levels. Taken together, the present study shows that V+5 has adverse effects on mitochondria and the metabolome which may result in EMT activation in the absence of cell death. Furthermore, results suggest that high-resolution metabolomics could serve as a powerful tool to investigate metal toxicity at levels which do not cause cell death.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaojia He
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Matthew Ryan Smith
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Atlanta Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Decatur, GA 30322, USA
| | - Zachery R Jarrell
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - ViLinh Thi Ly
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Yongliang Liang
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Choon-Myung Lee
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Michael Orr
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Young-Mi Go
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
| | - Dean P Jones
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
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Tchen R, Tan Y, Boyd Barr D, Barry Ryan P, Tran V, Li Z, Hu YJ, Smith AK, Jones DP, Dunlop AL, Liang D. Use of high-resolution metabolomics to assess the biological perturbations associated with maternal exposure to Bisphenol A and Bisphenol F among pregnant African American women. Environ Int 2022; 169:107530. [PMID: 36148711 PMCID: PMC9664380 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2022] [Revised: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 09/16/2022] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Human and animal exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) has been associated with adverse developmental and reproductive effects. The molecular mechanisms by which BPA exposure exerts its effects are not well-understood, even less known about its analogues bisphenol F (BPF). To address these knowledge gaps, we conducted an untargeted metabolome-wide association study (MWAS) to identify metabolic perturbations associated with BPA/BPF exposures in a pregnant African American cohort. METHODS From a subset of study participants enrolled in the Atlanta African American Maternal-Child cohort, we collected both urine samples, for targeted exposure assessment of BPA (N = 230) and BPF (N = 48), and serum samples, for high-resolution metabolomics (HRM) profiling (N = 230), during early pregnancy (8-14 weeks' gestation). Using an established untargeted HRM workflow consisting of MWAS modeling, pathway enrichment analysis, and chemical annotation and confirmation, we investigated the potential metabolic pathways and features associated with BPA/BPF exposures. RESULTS The geometric mean creatinine-adjusted concentrations of urinary BPA and BPF were 0.85 ± 2.58 and 0.70 ± 4.71 µg/g creatinine, respectively. After false positive discovery rate correction at 20 % level, 264 and 733 unique metabolic features were significantly associated with urinary BPA and BPF concentrations, representing 10 and 12 metabolic pathways, respectively. Three metabolic pathways, including steroid hormones biosynthesis, lysine and lipoate metabolism, were significantly associated with both BPA and BPF exposure. Using chemical standards, we have confirmed the chemical identity of 16 metabolites significantly associated with BPA or BPF exposure. CONCLUSIONS Our findings support that exposure to BPA and BPF in pregnant women is associated with the perturbation of aromatic amino acid metabolism, xenobiotics metabolism, steroid biosynthesis, and other amino acid metabolism closely linked to stress responses, inflammation, neural development, reproduction, and weight regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel Tchen
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Youran Tan
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Dana Boyd Barr
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - P Barry Ryan
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - ViLinh Tran
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Zhenjiang Li
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Yi-Juan Hu
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Alicia K Smith
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Dean P Jones
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Anne L Dunlop
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Donghai Liang
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
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Zhang X, Barr DB, Dunlop AL, Panuwet P, Sarnat JA, Lee GE, Tan Y, Corwin EJ, Jones DP, Ryan PB, Liang D. Assessment of metabolic perturbations associated with exposure to phthalates among pregnant African American women. Sci Total Environ 2022; 818:151689. [PMID: 34793805 PMCID: PMC8904271 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Revised: 11/07/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Phthalates have been linked with numerous harmful health effects. Limited data are available on the molecular mechanism underlying phthalate toxicity on human health. In this study, we measured urinary phthalate metabolites and used high-resolution metabolomics (HRM) to identify biological perturbations associated with phthalate exposures among pregnant African American (AA) women, who are disproportionately exposed to high phthalates levels. METHODS We used untargeted HRM profiling to characterize serum samples collected during early (8-14 weeks gestation) and late (24-30 weeks gestation) pregnancy from 73 participants from the Atlanta AA Maternal-Child cohort. We measured eight urinary phthalate metabolites in early and late pregnancy, including Monoethyl phthalate (MEP), Mono(2-ethlyhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), and Mono (2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP), to assess maternal exposures to phthalates. Metabolite and metabolic pathway perturbation were evaluated using an untargeted HRM workflow. RESULTS Geometric mean creatinine-adjusted levels of urinary MEP, MEHP, and MEHHP were 67.3, 1.4, and 4.1 μg/g creatinine, respectively, with MEP and MEHP higher than the mean levels of non-Hispanic blacks in the general US population (2015-2016). There were 73 and 1435 metabolic features significantly associated with at least one phthalate metabolite during early and late pregnancy (p < 0.005), respectively. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed perturbations in four inflammation- and oxidative-stress-related pathways associated with phthalate metabolite levels during both early and late pregnancy, including glycerophospholipid, urea cycle, arginine, and tyrosine metabolism. We confirmed 10 metabolites with level-1 evidence, which are associated with urinary phthalates, including thyroxine and thiamine, which were negatively associated with MEP, as well as tyramine and phenethylamine, which were positively associated with MEHP and MEHHP. CONCLUSION Our results demonstrated that urinary phthalate levels were associated with perturbations in biological pathways connected with inflammation, oxidative stress, and endocrine disruption. The findings support future targeted investigations on molecular mechanisms underlying the impact of maternal phthalates exposure on adverse health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyue Zhang
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Dana Boyd Barr
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Anne L Dunlop
- Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Parinya Panuwet
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Jeremy A Sarnat
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Grace E Lee
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Youran Tan
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | | | - Dean P Jones
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - P Barry Ryan
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Donghai Liang
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
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Tan Y, Barr DB, Ryan PB, Fedirko V, Sarnat JA, Gaskins AJ, Chang CJ, Tang Z, Marsit CJ, Corwin EJ, Jones DP, Dunlop AL, Liang D. High-resolution metabolomics of exposure to tobacco smoke during pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes in the Atlanta African American maternal-child cohort. Environ Pollut 2022; 292:118361. [PMID: 34655695 PMCID: PMC8616856 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2021] [Revised: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/10/2021] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to tobacco smoke during pregnancy has been associated with a series of adverse reproductive outcomes; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms are not well-established. We conducted an untargeted metabolome-wide association study to identify the metabolic perturbations and molecular mechanisms underlying the association between cotinine, a widely used biomarker of tobacco exposure, and adverse birth outcomes. We collected early and late pregnancy urine samples for cotinine measurement and serum samples for high-resolution metabolomics (HRM) profiling from 105 pregnant women from the Atlanta African American Maternal-Child cohort (2014-2016). Maternal metabolome perturbations mediating prenatal tobacco smoke exposure and adverse birth outcomes were assessed by an untargeted HRM workflow using generalized linear models, followed by pathway enrichment analysis and chemical annotation, with a meet-in-the-middle approach. The median maternal urinary cotinine concentrations were 5.93 μg/g creatinine and 3.69 μg/g creatinine in early and late pregnancy, respectively. In total, 16,481 and 13,043 metabolic features were identified in serum samples at each visit from positive and negative electrospray ionization modes, respectively. Twelve metabolic pathways were found to be associated with both cotinine concentrations and adverse birth outcomes during early and late pregnancy, including tryptophan, histidine, urea cycle, arginine, and proline metabolism. We confirmed 47 metabolites associated with cotinine levels, preterm birth, and shorter gestational age, including glutamate, serine, choline, and taurine, which are closely involved in endogenous inflammation, vascular reactivity, and lipid peroxidation processes. The metabolic perturbations associated with cotinine levels were related to inflammation, oxidative stress, placental vascularization, and insulin action, which could contribute to shorter gestations. The findings will support the further understanding of potential internal responses in association with tobacco smoke exposures, especially among African American women who are disproportionately exposed to high tobacco smoke and experience higher rates of adverse birth outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Youran Tan
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Dana Boyd Barr
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - P Barry Ryan
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Veronika Fedirko
- Department of Epidemiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Jeremy A Sarnat
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Audrey J Gaskins
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Che-Jung Chang
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Ziyin Tang
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Carmen J Marsit
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | | | - Dean P Jones
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Anne L Dunlop
- Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Donghai Liang
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
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Chang CJ, Barr DB, Ryan PB, Panuwet P, Smarr MM, Liu K, Kannan K, Yakimavets V, Tan Y, Ly V, Marsit CJ, Jones DP, Corwin EJ, Dunlop AL, Liang D. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposure, maternal metabolomic perturbation, and fetal growth in African American women: A meet-in-the-middle approach. Environ Int 2022; 158:106964. [PMID: 34735953 PMCID: PMC8688254 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Revised: 10/22/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prenatal exposures to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been linked to reduced fetal growth. However, the detailed molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. This study aims to investigate biological pathways and intermediate biomarkers underlying the association between serum PFAS and fetal growth using high-resolution metabolomics in a cohort of pregnant African American women in the Atlanta area, Georgia. METHODS Serum perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) measurements and untargeted serum metabolomics profiling were conducted in 313 pregnant African American women at 8-14 weeks gestation. Multiple linear regression models were applied to assess the associations of PFAS with birth weight and small-for-gestational age (SGA) birth. A high-resolution metabolomics workflow including metabolome-wide association study, pathway enrichment analysis, and chemical annotation and confirmation with a meet-in-the-middle approach was performed to characterize the biological pathways and intermediate biomarkers of the PFAS-fetal growth relationship. RESULTS Each log2-unit increase in serum PFNA concentration was significantly associated with higher odds of SGA birth (OR = 1.32, 95% CI 1.07, 1.63); similar but borderline significant associations were found in PFOA (OR = 1.20, 95% CI 0.94, 1.49) with SGA. Among 25,516 metabolic features extracted from the serum samples, we successfully annotated and confirmed 10 overlapping metabolites associated with both PFAS and fetal growth endpoints, including glycine, taurine, uric acid, ferulic acid, 2-hexyl-3-phenyl-2-propenal, unsaturated fatty acid C18:1, androgenic hormone conjugate, parent bile acid, and bile acid-glycine conjugate. Also, we identified 21 overlapping metabolic pathways from pathway enrichment analyses. These overlapping metabolites and pathways were closely related to amino acid, lipid and fatty acid, bile acid, and androgenic hormone metabolism perturbations. CONCLUSION In this cohort of pregnant African American women, higher serum concentrations of PFOA and PFNA were associated with reduced fetal growth. Perturbations of biological pathways involved in amino acid, lipid and fatty acid, bile acid, and androgenic hormone metabolism were associated with PFAS exposures and reduced fetal growth, and uric acid was shown to be a potential intermediate biomarker. Our results provide opportunities for future studies to develop early detection and intervention for PFAS-induced fetal growth restriction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Che-Jung Chang
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Dana Boyd Barr
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - P Barry Ryan
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Parinya Panuwet
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Melissa M Smarr
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Ken Liu
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Kurunthachalam Kannan
- Department of Pediatrics and Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Volha Yakimavets
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Youran Tan
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - ViLinh Ly
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Carmen J Marsit
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Dean P Jones
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | | | - Anne L Dunlop
- Woodruff Health Sciences Center, School of Medicine and Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Donghai Liang
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
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Smith MR, Jarrell ZR, Orr M, Liu KH, Go YM, Jones DP. Metabolome-wide association study of flavorant vanillin exposure in bronchial epithelial cells reveals disease-related perturbations in metabolism. Environ Int 2021; 147:106323. [PMID: 33360165 PMCID: PMC7856097 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.106323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2020] [Revised: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/02/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Electronic cigarettes (e-cig) are an increasingly popular alternative to traditional smoking but have been in use for too short of a period of time to fully understand health risks. Furthermore, associated health risks are difficult to evaluate because of a large range of flavoring agents and their combinations for use with e-cig. Many flavoring agents are generally regarded as safe but have limited studies for effects on lung. Vanillin, an aromatic aldehyde, is one of the most commonly used flavoring agents in e-cig. Vanillin is electrophilic and can be redox active, with chemical properties expected to interact within biologic systems. Because accumulating lung metabolomics studies have identified metabolic disruptions associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, asthma and acute respiratory distress syndrome, we used human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) with high-resolution metabolomics analysis to determine whether these disease-associated pathways are impacted by vanillin over the range used in e-cig. A metabolome-wide association study showed that vanillin perturbed specific energy, amino acid, antioxidant and sphingolipid pathways previously associated with human disease. Analysis of a small publicly available human dataset showed associations with several of the same pathways. Because vanillin is a common and high-abundance flavorant in e-cig, these results show that vanillin has potential to be mechanistically important in lung diseases and warrants in vivo toxicity testing in the context of e-cig use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Ryan Smith
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Zachery R Jarrell
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Michael Orr
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Ken H Liu
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Young-Mi Go
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
| | - Dean P Jones
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
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Li Z, Liang D, Ye D, Chang HH, Ziegler TR, Jones DP, Ebelt ST. Application of high-resolution metabolomics to identify biological pathways perturbed by traffic-related air pollution. Environ Res 2021; 193:110506. [PMID: 33245887 PMCID: PMC7855798 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.110506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2020] [Revised: 11/09/2020] [Accepted: 11/17/2020] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Substantial research has investigated the adverse effects of traffic-related air pollutants (TRAP) on human health. Convincing associations between TRAP and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases are known, but the underlying biological mechanisms are not well established. High-resolution metabolomics (HRM) is a promising platform for untargeted characterization of molecular mechanisms between TRAP and health indexes. OBJECTIVES We examined metabolic perturbations associated with short-term exposures to TRAP, including carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), organic carbon (OC), and elemental carbon (EC) among 180 participants of the Center for Health Discovery and Well-Being (CHDWB), a cohort of Emory University-affiliated employees. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted on baseline visits of 180 CHDWB participants enrolled during 2008-2012, in whom HRM profiling was determined in plasma samples using liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry with positive and negative electrospray ionization (ESI) modes. Ambient pollution concentrations were measured at an ambient monitor near downtown Atlanta. Metabolic perturbations associated with TRAP exposures were assessed following an untargeted metabolome-wide association study (MWAS) framework using feature-specific Tobit regression models, followed by enriched pathway analysis and chemical annotation. RESULTS Subjects were predominantly white (76.1%) and non-smokers (95.6%), and all had at least a high school education. In total, 7821 and 4123 metabolic features were extracted from the plasma samples by the negative and positive ESI runs, respectively. There are 3421 features significantly associated with at least one air pollutant by negative ion mode, and 1691 features by positive ion mode. Biological pathways enriched by features associated with the pollutants are primarily involved in nucleic acids damage/repair (e.g., pyrimidine metabolism), nutrient metabolism (e.g., fatty acid metabolism), and acute inflammation (e.g., histidine metabolism and tyrosine metabolism). NO2 and EC were associated most consistently with these pathways. We confirmed the chemical identity of 8 metabolic features in negative ESI and 2 features in positive ESI, including metabolites closely linked to oxidative stress and inflammation, such as histamine, tyrosine, tryptophan, and proline. CONCLUSIONS We identified a range of ambient pollutants, including components of TRAP, associated with differences in the metabolic phenotype among the cohort of 180 subjects. We found Tobit models to be a robust approach to handle missing data among the metabolic features. The results were encouraging of further use of HRM and MWAS approaches for characterizing molecular mechanisms underlying exposure to TRAP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenjiang Li
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, USA
| | - Donghai Liang
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, USA
| | - Dongni Ye
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, USA
| | - Howard H Chang
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, USA
| | - Thomas R Ziegler
- Division of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Dean P Jones
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, United States
| | - Stefanie T Ebelt
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, USA.
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Valvi D, Walker DI, Inge T, Bartell SM, Jenkins T, Helmrath M, Ziegler TR, La Merrill MA, Eckel SP, Conti D, Liang Y, Jones DP, McConnell R, Chatzi L. Environmental chemical burden in metabolic tissues and systemic biological pathways in adolescent bariatric surgery patients: A pilot untargeted metabolomic approach. Environ Int 2020; 143:105957. [PMID: 32683211 PMCID: PMC7708399 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2019] [Revised: 07/03/2020] [Accepted: 07/04/2020] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Advances in untargeted metabolomic technologies have great potential for insight into adverse metabolic effects underlying exposure to environmental chemicals. However, important challenges need to be addressed, including how biological response corresponds to the environmental chemical burden in different target tissues. AIM We performed a pilot study using state-of-the-art ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHRMS) to characterize the burden of lipophilic persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in metabolic tissues and associated alterations in the plasma metabolome. METHODS We studied 11 adolescents with severe obesity at the time of bariatric surgery. We measured 18 POPs that can act as endocrine and metabolic disruptors (i.e. 2 dioxins, 11 organochlorine compounds [OCs] and 5 polybrominated diphenyl ethers [PBDEs]) in visceral and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (vAT and sAT), and liver samples using gas chromatography with UHRMS. Biological pathways were evaluated by measuring the plasma metabolome using high-resolution metabolomics. Network and pathway enrichment analysis assessed correlations between the tissue-specific burden of three frequently detected POPs (i.e. p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethene [DDE], hexachlorobenzene [HCB] and PBDE-47) and plasma metabolic pathways. RESULTS Concentrations of 4 OCs and 3 PBDEs were quantifiable in at least one metabolic tissue for > 80% of participants. All POPs had the highest median concentrations in adipose tissue, especially sAT, except for PBDE-154, which had comparable average concentrations across all tissues. Pathway analysis showed high correlations between tissue-specific POPs and metabolic alterations in pathways of amino acid metabolism, lipid and fatty acid metabolism, and carbohydrate metabolism. CONCLUSIONS Most of the measured POPs appear to accumulate preferentially in adipose tissue compared to liver. Findings of plasma metabolic pathways potentially associated with tissue-specific POPs concentrations merit further investigation in larger populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Damaskini Valvi
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.
| | - Douglas I Walker
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.
| | - Thomas Inge
- Children's Hospital Colorado and University of Colorado, Denver, United States
| | - Scott M Bartell
- Program in Public Health and Department of Statistics, University of California, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Todd Jenkins
- Cincinnati Children's Hospital and University of Cincinnati Departments of Pediatrics and Surgery, Cincinnati, OH, United States
| | - Michael Helmrath
- Cincinnati Children's Hospital and University of Cincinnati Departments of Pediatrics and Surgery, Cincinnati, OH, United States
| | - Thomas R Ziegler
- Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Lipids, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Michele A La Merrill
- Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Sandrah P Eckel
- Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - David Conti
- Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Yongliang Liang
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Dean P Jones
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Rob McConnell
- Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Leda Chatzi
- Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
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9
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Yan Q, Liew Z, Uppal K, Cui X, Ling C, Heck JE, von Ehrenstein OS, Wu J, Walker DI, Jones DP, Ritz B. Maternal serum metabolome and traffic-related air pollution exposure in pregnancy. Environ Int 2019; 130:104872. [PMID: 31228787 PMCID: PMC7017857 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.05.066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2019] [Revised: 05/23/2019] [Accepted: 05/24/2019] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Maternal exposure to traffic-related air pollution during pregnancy has been shown to increase the risk of adverse birth outcomes and neurodevelopmental disorders. By utilizing high-resolution metabolomics (HRM), we investigated perturbations of the maternal serum metabolome in response to traffic-related air pollution to identify biological mechanisms. METHODS We retrieved stored mid-pregnancy serum samples from 160 mothers who lived in the Central Valley of California known for high air particulate levels. We estimated prenatal traffic-related air pollution exposure (carbon monoxide, nitric oxides, and particulate matter <2.5 μm) during first-trimester using the California Line Source Dispersion Model, version 4 (CALINE4) based on residential addresses recorded at birth. We used liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry to obtain untargeted metabolic profiles and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) to select metabolic features associated with air pollution exposure. Pathway analyses were employed to identify biologic pathways related to air pollution exposure. As potential confounders we included maternal age, maternal race/ethnicity, and maternal education. RESULTS In total we extracted 4038 and 4957 metabolic features from maternal serum samples in hydrophilic interaction (HILIC) chromatography (positive ion mode) and C18 (negative ion mode) columns, respectively. After controlling for confounding factors, PLS-DA (Variable Importance in Projection (VIP) ≥2) yielded 181 and 251 metabolic features (HILIC and C18, respectively) that discriminated between the high (n = 98) and low exposed (n = 62). Pathway enrichment analysis for discriminatory features associated with air pollution indicated that in maternal serum oxidative stress and inflammation related pathways were altered, including linoleate, leukotriene, and prostaglandin pathways. CONCLUSION The metabolomic features and pathways we found to be associated with air pollution exposure suggest that maternal exposure during pregnancy induces oxidative stress and inflammation pathways previously implicated in pregnancy complications and adverse outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Yan
- Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Zeyan Liew
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA; Yale Center for Perinatal, Pediatric, and Environmental Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Karan Uppal
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Xin Cui
- Perinatal Epidemiology and Health Outcomes Research Unit, Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Palo Alto, CA, USA; California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative, Palo Alto, CA, USA
| | - Chenxiao Ling
- Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Julia E Heck
- Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | | | - Jun Wu
- Program in Public Health, UCI Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Douglas I Walker
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Dean P Jones
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Beate Ritz
- Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine, CA, USA.
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10
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Liang D, Ladva CN, Golan R, Yu T, Walker DI, Sarnat SE, Greenwald R, Uppal K, Tran V, Jones DP, Russell AG, Sarnat JA. Perturbations of the arginine metabolome following exposures to traffic-related air pollution in a panel of commuters with and without asthma. Environ Int 2019; 127:503-513. [PMID: 30981021 PMCID: PMC6513706 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2019] [Revised: 03/30/2019] [Accepted: 04/01/2019] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mechanisms underlying the effects of traffic-related air pollution on people with asthma remain largely unknown, despite the abundance of observational and controlled studies reporting associations between traffic sources and asthma exacerbation and hospitalizations. OBJECTIVES To identify molecular pathways perturbed following traffic pollution exposures, we analyzed data as part of the Atlanta Commuters Exposure (ACE-2) study, a crossover panel of commuters with and without asthma. METHODS We measured 27 air pollutants and conducted high-resolution metabolomics profiling on blood samples from 45 commuters before and after each exposure session. We evaluated metabolite and metabolic pathway perturbations using an untargeted metabolome-wide association study framework with pathway analyses and chemical annotation. RESULTS Most of the measured pollutants were elevated in highway commutes (p < 0.05). From both negative and positive ionization modes, 17,586 and 9087 metabolic features were extracted from plasma, respectively. 494 and 220 unique features were associated with at least 3 of the 27 exposures, respectively (p < 0.05), after controlling confounders and false discovery rates. Pathway analysis indicated alteration of several inflammatory and oxidative stress related metabolic pathways, including leukotriene, vitamin E, cytochrome P450, and tryptophan metabolism. We identified and annotated 45 unique metabolites enriched in these pathways, including arginine, histidine, and methionine. Most of these metabolites were not only associated with multiple pollutants, but also differentially expressed between participants with and without asthma. The analysis indicated that these metabolites collectively participated in an interrelated molecular network centering on arginine metabolism, underlying the impact of traffic-related pollutants on individuals with asthma. CONCLUSIONS We detected numerous significant metabolic perturbations associated with in-vehicle exposures during commuting and validated metabolites that were closely linked to several inflammatory and redox pathways, elucidating the potential molecular mechanisms of traffic-related air pollution toxicity. These results support future studies of metabolic markers of traffic exposures and the corresponding molecular mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donghai Liang
- Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, USA.
| | - Chandresh N Ladva
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, USA
| | - Rachel Golan
- Department of Public Health, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
| | - Tianwei Yu
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, USA
| | - Douglas I Walker
- Department of Environmental Medicine & Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA
| | - Stefanie E Sarnat
- Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, USA
| | - Roby Greenwald
- Division of Environmental Health, Georgia State University School of Public Health, Atlanta, USA
| | - Karan Uppal
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, USA
| | - ViLinh Tran
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, USA
| | - Dean P Jones
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, USA
| | - Armistead G Russell
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA
| | - Jeremy A Sarnat
- Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, USA
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11
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Walker DI, Lane KJ, Liu K, Uppal K, Patton AP, Durant JL, Jones DP, Brugge D, Pennell KD. Metabolomic assessment of exposure to near-highway ultrafine particles. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 2019; 29:469-483. [PMID: 30518795 PMCID: PMC6551325 DOI: 10.1038/s41370-018-0102-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2018] [Revised: 09/06/2018] [Accepted: 11/12/2018] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to traffic-related air pollutants has been associated with increased risk of adverse cardiopulmonary outcomes and mortality; however, the biochemical pathways linking exposure to disease are not known. To delineate biological response mechanisms associated with exposure to near-highway ultrafine particles (UFP), we used untargeted high-resolution metabolomics to profile plasma from 59 participants enrolled in the Community Assessment of Freeway Exposure and Health (CAFEH) study. Metabolic variations associated with UFP exposure were assessed using a cross-sectional study design based upon low (mean 16,000 particles/cm3) and high (mean 24,000 particles/cm3) annual average UFP exposures. In comparing quantified metabolites, we identified five metabolites that were differentially expressed between low and high exposures, including arginine, aspartic acid, glutamine, cystine and methionine sulfoxide. Analysis of the metabolome identified 316 m/z features associated with UFP, which were consistent with increased lipid peroxidation, endogenous inhibitors of nitric oxide and vehicle exhaust exposure biomarkers. Network correlation analysis and metabolic pathway enrichment identified 38 pathways and included variations related to inflammation, endothelial function and mitochondrial bioenergetics. Taken together, these results suggest UFP exposure is associated with a complex series of metabolic variations related to antioxidant pathways, in vivo generation of reactive oxygen species and processes critical to endothelial function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas I Walker
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Kevin J Lane
- Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ken Liu
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Karan Uppal
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | | | - John L Durant
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
| | - Dean P Jones
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Doug Brugge
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
- Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
- Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
| | - Kurt D Pennell
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA.
- School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
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12
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Walker DI, Marder ME, Yano Y, Terrell M, Liang Y, Barr DB, Miller GW, Jones DP, Marcus M, Pennell KD. Multigenerational metabolic profiling in the Michigan PBB registry. Environ Res 2019; 172:182-193. [PMID: 30782538 PMCID: PMC6534816 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2019.02.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2018] [Revised: 01/12/2019] [Accepted: 02/12/2019] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Although polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated biphenyls are no longer manufactured the United States, biomonitoring in human populations show that exposure to these pollutants persist in human tissues. The objective of this study was to identify metabolic variations associated with exposure to 2,2'4,4',5,5'-hexabromobiphenyl (PBB-153) and 2,2'4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (PCB-153) in two generations of participants enrolled in the Michigan PBB Registry (http://pbbregistry.emory.edu/). Untargeted, high-resolution metabolomic profiling of plasma collected from 156 individuals was completed using liquid chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry. PBB-153 and PCB-153 levels were measured in the same individuals using targeted gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and tested for dose-dependent correlation with the metabolome. Biological response to these exposures were evaluated using identified endogenous metabolites and pathway enrichment. When compared to lipid-adjusted concentrations for adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for years 2003-2004, PCB-153 levels were consistent with similarly aged individuals, whereas PBB-153 concentrations were elevated (p<0.0001) in participants enrolled in the Michigan PBB Registry. Metabolic alterations were correlated with PBB-153 and PCB-153 in both generations of participants, and included changes in pathways related to catecholamine metabolism, cellular respiration, essential fatty acids, lipids and polyamine metabolism. These pathways were consistent with pathophysiological changes observed in neurodegenerative disease and included previously identified metabolomic markers of Parkinson's disease. To determine if the metabolic alterations detected in this study are replicated other cohorts, we evaluated correlation of PBB-153 and PCB-153 with plasma fatty acids measured in NHANES. Both pollutants showed similar associations with fatty acids previously linked to PCB exposure. Thus, the results from this study show metabolic alterations correlated with PBB-153 and PCB-153 exposure can be detected in human populations and are consistent with health outcomes previously reported in epidemiological and mechanistic studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas I Walker
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, 200 College Ave, Medford MA 02155, United States; Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, 615 Michael St, Atlanta GA 30322, United States.
| | - M Elizabeth Marder
- Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Rd, Atlanta GA 30322, United States.
| | - Yukiko Yano
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 50 University Ave Hall #7360, Berkeley CA 94720, United States.
| | - Metrecia Terrell
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Rd, Atlanta GA 30322, United States.
| | - Yongliang Liang
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, 615 Michael St, Atlanta GA 30322, United States.
| | - Dana Boyd Barr
- Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Rd, Atlanta GA 30322, United States.
| | - Gary W Miller
- Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Rd, Atlanta GA 30322, United States.
| | - Dean P Jones
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, 615 Michael St, Atlanta GA 30322, United States.
| | - Michele Marcus
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Rd, Atlanta GA 30322, United States.
| | - Kurt D Pennell
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, 200 College Ave, Medford MA 02155, United States.
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13
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Walker DI, Valvi D, Rothman N, Lan Q, Miller GW, Jones DP. The metabolome: A key measure for exposome research in epidemiology. CURR EPIDEMIOL REP 2019; 6:93-103. [PMID: 31828002 PMCID: PMC6905435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Application of omics to study human health has created a new era of opportunities for epidemiology research. However, approaches to characterize exogenous health triggers have largely not leveraged advances in analytical platforms and big data. In this review, we highlight the exposome, which is defined as the cumulative measure of exposure and biological responses across a lifetime as a cornerstone for new epidemiology approaches to study complex and preventable human diseases. RECENT FINDINGS While no universal approach exists to measure the entirety of the exposome, use of high-resolution mass spectrometry methods provide distinct advantages over traditional biomonitoring and have provided key advances necessary for exposome research. Application to different study designs and recommendations for combining exposome data with novel data analytic frameworks to study complex interactions of multiple stressors are also discussed. SUMMARY Even though challenges still need to be addressed, advances in methods to characterize the exposome provide exciting new opportunities for epidemiology to support fundamental discoveries to improve public health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas I. Walker
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
| | - Damaskini Valvi
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston MA, United States
| | - Nathaniel Rothman
- Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD
| | - Qing Lan
- Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD
| | - Gary W. Miller
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York NY
| | - Dean P. Jones
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
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14
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Walker DI, Uppal K, Zhang L, Vermeulen R, Smith M, Hu W, Purdue MP, Tang X, Reiss B, Kim S, Li L, Huang H, Pennell KD, Jones DP, Rothman N, Lan Q. High-resolution metabolomics of occupational exposure to trichloroethylene. Int J Epidemiol 2016; 45:1517-1527. [PMID: 27707868 PMCID: PMC5100622 DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyw218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/12/2016] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Occupational exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE) has been linked to adverse health outcomes including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and kidney and liver cancer; however, TCE’s mode of action for development of these diseases in humans is not well understood. Methods: Non-targeted metabolomics analysis of plasma obtained from 80 TCE-exposed workers [full shift exposure range of 0.4 to 230 parts-per-million of air (ppma)] and 95 matched controls were completed by ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry. Biological response to TCE exposure was determined using a metabolome-wide association study (MWAS) framework, with metabolic changes and plasma TCE metabolites evaluated by dose-response and pathway enrichment. Biological perturbations were then linked to immunological, renal and exposure molecular markers measured in the same population. Results: Metabolic features associated with TCE exposure included known TCE metabolites, unidentifiable chlorinated compounds and endogenous metabolites. Exposure resulted in a systemic response in endogenous metabolism, including disruption in purine catabolism and decreases in sulphur amino acid and bile acid biosynthesis pathways. Metabolite associations with TCE exposure included uric acid (β = 0.13, P-value = 3.6 × 10−5), glutamine (β = 0.08, P-value = 0.0013), cystine (β = 0.75, P-value = 0.0022), methylthioadenosine (β = −1.6, P-value = 0.0043), taurine (β = −2.4, P-value = 0.0011) and chenodeoxycholic acid (β = −1.3, P-value = 0.0039), which are consistent with known toxic effects of TCE, including immunosuppression, hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. Correlation with additional exposure markers and physiological endpoints supported known disease associations. Conclusions: High-resolution metabolomics correlates measured occupational exposure to internal dose and metabolic response, providing insight into molecular mechanisms of exposure-related disease aetiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas I Walker
- Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA, .,Deptartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
| | - Karan Uppal
- Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Luoping Zhang
- Environmental Health Sciences, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Roel Vermeulen
- Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Martyn Smith
- Environmental Health Sciences, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Wei Hu
- Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Mark P Purdue
- Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Xiaojiang Tang
- Guangdong Medical Laboratory Animal Center, Guangdong, China
| | - Boris Reiss
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA and
| | - Sungkyoon Kim
- School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Laiyu Li
- Guangdong Medical Laboratory Animal Center, Guangdong, China
| | - Hanlin Huang
- Guangdong Medical Laboratory Animal Center, Guangdong, China
| | - Kurt D Pennell
- Deptartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA.,Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Dean P Jones
- Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Nathaniel Rothman
- Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Qing Lan
- Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
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