Giancarlo Pesce1, Lucile Sesé1,2, Lucia Calciano3, Benoit Travert1, Boris Dessimond1, Cara Nichole Maesano1, Giuliana Ferrante4, Guy Huel5, Julie Prud'homme1, Martine Guinot1, Munawar Hussain Soomro6, Ramen Munir Baloch1, Raphael Lhote1,7, Isabella Annesi-Maesano1. 1. Epidemiology of Allergic and Respiratory Diseases (EPAR) Team, Faculté de Médecine Saint-Antoine, Institute Pierre Louis d'Epidemiologie et Sante Publique (IPLESP), Sorbonne Université and INSERM UMR-S 1136, Paris, France. 2. Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Service des Explorations Fonctionnelles et Respiratoires, Hôpital Avicenne, Bobigny, France. 3. Unit of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Department of Diagnostic and Public Health, University of Verona, Verona, Italy. 4. Department of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy. 5. INSERM UMR-S 1018, Centre de Recherche en Épidémiologie et Santé des Populations (CESP), Villejuif, France. 6. Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Isra University, Hyderabad, Pakistan. 7. Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Internal Medicine 2, Auto-immune and systemic diseases, University Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence suggests that in utero exposures can influence the development of the immune system and thus contribute to disease development. Studies investigating the association between prenatal exposures to heavy metals and atopic diseases, however, are scarce. METHODS: Children from the EDEN birth cohort were prospectively followed up using parental questionnaires with validated questions on asthma, allergic rhinitis, eczema, and food allergy symptoms. The questionnaires were administered every 4 months during the children's first year, and then every year until the age of 5, with a final survey at the age of 8. Serum concentrations of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and manganese (Mn) were assessed in maternal blood samples collected during mid-pregnancy and in cord blood of 651 mother-children pairs. Hazard ratios (HR) for the incidence of each atopic disease in relation to the exposure to metals were calculated using Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: Levels of Cd in cord blood were associated with greater risk of asthma (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval] for upper vs lower quartile: 1.81 [1.00-3.29]), eczema (1.60 [1.09-2.35]), and food allergy (3.17 [1.36-7.38]), while Mn levels in maternal serum were associated with eczema (1.55 [1.05-2.28]). These associations were similar in males and females and were confirmed using log concentrations of metals as exposures. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the hypothesis that fetal exposure to heavy metals may affect the development of asthma, eczema, and food allergy in childhood and suggest that timing of exposure in utero may have a role in these associations.
BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence suggests that in utero exposures can influence the development of the immune system and thus contribute to disease development. Studies investigating the association between prenatal exposures to heavy metals and atopic diseases, however, are scarce. METHODS:Children from the EDEN birth cohort were prospectively followed up using parental questionnaires with validated questions on asthma, allergic rhinitis, eczema, and food allergy symptoms. The questionnaires were administered every 4 months during the children's first year, and then every year until the age of 5, with a final survey at the age of 8. Serum concentrations of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and manganese (Mn) were assessed in maternal blood samples collected during mid-pregnancy and in cord blood of 651 mother-children pairs. Hazard ratios (HR) for the incidence of each atopic disease in relation to the exposure to metals were calculated using Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: Levels of Cd in cord blood were associated with greater risk of asthma (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval] for upper vs lower quartile: 1.81 [1.00-3.29]), eczema (1.60 [1.09-2.35]), and food allergy (3.17 [1.36-7.38]), while Mn levels in maternal serum were associated with eczema (1.55 [1.05-2.28]). These associations were similar in males and females and were confirmed using log concentrations of metals as exposures. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the hypothesis that fetal exposure to heavy metals may affect the development of asthma, eczema, and food allergy in childhood and suggest that timing of exposure in utero may have a role in these associations.
Authors: Nia McRae; Chris Gennings; Nadya Rivera Rivera; Marcela Tamayo-Ortiz; Ivan Pantic; Chitra Amarasiriwardena; Lourdes Schnaas; Rosalind Wright; Martha M Tellez-Rojo; Robert O Wright; Maria José Rosa Journal: Environ Res Date: 2021-11-27 Impact factor: 6.498
Authors: Jutta E Laiho; Olli H Laitinen; Johannes Malkamäki; Leena Puustinen; Aki Sinkkonen; Juha Pärkkä; Heikki Hyöty Journal: Environ Epidemiol Date: 2022-06-08
Authors: Maria José Rosa; Marcela Tamayo-Ortiz; Adriana Mercado Garcia; Nadya Y Rivera Rivera; Douglas Bush; Alison G Lee; Maritsa Solano-González; Chitra Amarasiriwardena; Martha Maria Téllez-Rojo; Robert O Wright; Rosalind J Wright Journal: Environ Res Date: 2021-12-05 Impact factor: 6.498