Background: Bulky DNA adducts reflect genotoxic exposures, have been associated with lower birth weight, and may predict cancer risk.
Objective: We selected factors known or hypothesized to affect in utero adduct formation and repair and examined their associations with adduct levels in neonates.
Methods: Pregnant women from Greece, Spain, England, Denmark, and Norway were recruited in 2006–2010. Cord blood bulky DNA adduct levels were measured by the 32P-postlabeling technique (n = 511). Diet and maternal characteristics were assessed via questionnaires. Modeled exposures to air pollutants and drinking-water disinfection by-products, mainly trihalomethanes (THMs), were available for a large proportion of the study population.
Results: Greek and Spanish neonates had higher adduct levels than the northern European neonates [median, 12.1 (n = 179) vs. 6.8 (n = 332) adducts per 108 nucleotides, p < 0.001]. Residence in southern European countries, higher maternal body mass index, delivery by cesarean section, male infant sex, low maternal intake of fruits rich in vitamin C, high intake of dairy products, and low adherence to healthy diet score were statistically significantly associated with higher adduct levels in adjusted models. Exposure to fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide was associated with significantly higher adducts in the Danish subsample only. Overall, the pooled results for THMs in water show no evidence of association with adduct levels; however, there are country-specific differences in results with a suggestion of an association in England.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that a combination of factors, including unknown country-specific factors, influence the bulky DNA adduct levels in neonates.
1Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain; 2Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; 3CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain; 4INSERM (National Institute of Health and Medical Research), U823, Team of Environmental Epidemiology Applied to Reproduction and Respiratory Health, Institute Albert Bonniot, Grenoble, France; 5Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; 6Department of Molecular Environmental Epidemiology, National Institute of Environmental Health, Budapest, Hungary; 7Department of Toxicology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; 8IMIM (Hospital del Mar Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain; 9Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge, Sweden; 10Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Clinical Trials, IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST-National Cancer Research Institute, Genova, Italy; 11Department of Social Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece; 12Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; 13Department of Chemicals and Radiation, 14Department of Exposure and Risk Assessment, and 15Division of Environmental Medicine, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; 16Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; 17Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford Royal Infirmary, Bradford, United Kingdom; 18Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, London, the United Kingdom; 19Leeds Institute of Genetics, Health and Therapeutics, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom; 20Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark; 21Institute of Biology, Medicinal Chemistry and Biotechnology, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens, Greece; 22MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom; 23Department of Toxicogenomics, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
Recommended Citation:
Marie Pedersen,1,2,et al. Environmental, Dietary, Maternal, and Fetal Predictors of Bulky DNA Adducts in Cord Blood: A European Mother–Child Study (NewGeneris)[J]. Environmental Health Perspectives,2015-01-01,Volume 123(Issue 4):374