Urinary Arsenic Species and Methylation Efficiency During Pregnancy: Concentrations and Associated Factors in Spanish Pregnant Women

Background: Arsenic (As) is considered to be toxic for humans, the main routes of exposure being through drinking water and the diet. Once ingested, inorganic arsenic can be methylated sequentially to monomethyl and dimethyl arsenicals. Several factors can affect both As exposure and methylation efficiency. Objectives: To describe the urinary concentrations of the different As species and evaluate the methylation effi-ciency during pregnancy, as well as their associated factors in a birth cohort of pregnant Spanish women. Methods: Participants in this cross-sectional study were 1017 pregnant women from two areas of Spain who had taken part in the INMA (Environment and Childhood) project (2003 & ndash;2008). Total As (organic and inorganic compounds) and its main metabolites (monomethylarsonic acid, [MMA], dimethylarsinic acid, [DMA], inorganic As [iAs]) and arsenobetaine [AB]) were measured in urine samples collected during the first trimester. Socio-demographic and dietary information was collected through questionnaires. Multivariate linear regression models were used to explore the association between As species concentrations and covariates. Arsenic methylation efficiency was determined through the percentages of the metabolites and using As methylation phenotypes, obtained from principal component analysis. Results: Median urine concentrations were 33.0, 21.6, 6.5, 0.35 and 0.33 lig/g creatinine for total As, AB, DMA, MMA and iAs, respectively. Daily consumption of rice and seafood during the first trimester of pregnancy were positively associated with the concentration of As species (i.e., beta [CI95%] = 0.36 [0.09, 0.64] for rice and iAs, and 1.06 [0.68, 1.44] for seafood and AB). TAs, AB and iAs concentrations, and DMA and MMA concentrations were associated with legume and vegetable consumption, respectively. The medians of the percentage of As metabolites were 89.7 for %DMA, 5.1 for %MMA and 4.7 for %iAs. Non-smoker women and those with higher body mass index presented a higher methylation efficiency (denoted by a higher %DMA and lower %MMA). Discussion: Certain dietary, lifestyle, and environmental factors were observed to have an influence on both As species concentrations and methylation efficiency in our population. Further birth cohort studies in low exposure areas are necessary to improve knowledge about arsenic exposure, especially to inorganic forms, and its potential health impact during childhood.This study was supported by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain [FIS-FEDER: 07/0314; FIS 11/01007, 13/1944, 16/1288, 19/1338; Miguel Servet-FEDER: CP15/0025, CPII20/00006; FIS-FSE: 17/00260; Miguel Servet-FSE: MS15/0025, MS20/0006; PI06/0867 and FIS-PI18/01142 incl. FEDER funds] , Generalitat Valenciana, Spain BEST/2020/059, Department of Health of the Basque Government, Spain (2005111093) , Provincial Government of Gipuzkoa (DFG06/002) , and annual agreements with the municipalities in the study area (Zumarraga, Urretxu, Legazpi, Azkoitia, Azpeitia and Beasain)

Folic Acid Supplementation during Pregnancy and Its Association with Telomere Length in Children at Four Years: Results from the INMA Birth Cohort Study

This study examined the association between folic acid supplements (FAs) during different periods of pregnancy and offspring telomere length (TL) at age four in 666 children from the INMA study. FAs were self-reported using food-structured questionnaires during three periods of pregnancy (the first three months of pregnancy, from month fourth onward, and the whole pregnancy). For each period, the average daily dosage of FAs was categorised into (i) <400 μg/d, (ii) ≥400 to 999 μg/d, (iii) ≥1000 to 4999 μg/d, and (iv) ≥5000 μg/d. Leucocyte TL at age four was measured using quantitative PCR methods. Multiple robust linear log-level regression models were used to report the % difference among FA categories. During the first period, and compared with children whose mothers were classified in the reference group (<400 μg/d), children whose mothers took higher dosages of FAs showed shorter TL at age four (≥5000 μg/d). When the first and the second periods were mutually adjusted, children whose mothers self-reported ≥5000 μg/d during the first period of pregnancy had a statistically significant shorter TL than their counterparts (% difference: −7.28% [95% CI: −14.42 to −0.13]). Similar trends were observed for the whole period of pregnancy. When the analysis was stratified by sex, the association was more evident in boys (% difference: −13.5% [95% CI: −23.0 to −4.04]), whereas no association was observed in girls. This study suggests that high dosages of FAs in the first pregnancy period may be associated with a shorter TL in children at age four, particularly among boys. Further studies should confirm these results.This research was funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III/Agencia Estatal de Investigación, grant number PI18/00825 Project: “Dieta y actividad física en embarazo y tras el nacimiento y longitud del telómero en niños y adolescentes: Proyecto TeloDiPA” and Unión Europea (FEDER) “Una manera de hacer Europa”; PI07/0314, PI11/01007 incl. FEDER funds; Generalitat Valenciana (GVA/2021/191); Dries Martens holds a postdoctoral grant by the Flemish Scientific Fund (FWO grant 12X9620N). In Sabadell was funded by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Red INMA G03/176; CB06/02/0041; PI041436; PI081151 incl. FEDER funds; PI12/01890 incl. FEDER funds; CP13/00054 incl. FEDER funds, PI15/00118 incl. FEDER funds, CPII18/00018), CIBERESP, Generalitat de Catalunya-CIRIT 1999SGR 00241, Generalitat de Catalunya-AGAUR (2009 SGR 501, 2014 SGR 822), Fundació La marató de TV3 (090430), Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (SAF2012-32991 incl. FEDER funds), Agence Nationale de Securite Sanitaire de l’Alimentation de l’Environnement et du Travail (1262C0010), EU Commission (261357, 308333, 603794 and 634453). We acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the State Research Agency through the “Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2019–2023” Program (CEX2018-000806-S), and support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program. In Asturias was funded by ISCIII: PI04/2018, PI09/02311, PI13/02429, PI18/00909 co-funded by FEDER, “A way to make Europe”/“Investing in your future”, Obra Social Cajastur/Fundación Liberbank, and Universidad de Oviedo. This study was funded by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FIS-PI06/0867 and FIS-PI09/00090), CIBERESP, Department of Health of the Basque Government (2005111093, 2009111069 and 2013111089), and the Provincial Government of Gipuzkoa (DFG06/002 and DFG08/001) and annual agreements with the municipalities of the study area (Zumarraga, Urretxu, Legazpi, Azkoitia y Azpeitia y Beasain). Jordi Julvez holds the Miguel Servet-II contract (CPII19/00015) awarded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (co-funded by the European Social Fund “Investing in your future”)

Serum metal levels in a population of Spanish pregnant women

Objective: To describe serum levels of calcium, copper, selenium, magnesium, iron and zinc and evaluate their relationship with maternal socio-demographic characteristics and dietary variables in women in the first trimester of pregnancy. Method: Cross-sectional study with 1279 participants from the INMA cohorts. Results: The concentrations of the elements analyzed were within the normal range. Associations with higher levels of these metals were found for calcium with white meat intake (p = 0.026), for cop-per with excess body weight (p 71 g/day) (p = 0.014) and having been born in Spain (p = 0.001). Further, lower iron levels were associated with being overweight (p = 0.021) or obese (p < 0.001) and vitamin B12 supplementation (p = 0.006). Conclusions: Our results suggest that trace elements in the analyzed cohorts are adequate for this stage of pregnancy. The variability in these elements is mainly linked to socio-demographic and anthropometric variables.This study is part of the INMA (Infancia y Medio Ambiente) project. It was supported by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FIS-FEDER: 06/0867, 09/00090, 13/1944, 16/1288, 19/1338; Miguel Servet-FEDER: CP15/0025; Miguel Servet-FSE: MS15/0025) , by the Council of Gipuzkoa (DFG15/009) and by the Health Department of the Basque Government

Haurdunaldian amak izandako bizi-ohiturak, ingurumen-esposizioak, osasun-sistemaren ekimenak eta haurraren garapen neuropsikologikoa: INMA (Haurtzaroa eta Ingurumena-Infancia y Medio Ambiente) proiektuan argitaratutako lanen errebisioa.

In the health field in general and in public health in particular, the environment has become important over the last two centuries. In 1974 Marc Lalonde developed a health model, remarking the role that lifestyles and the environment play on health. The main objective of this work is to highlight the most relevant results of the INMA project in relation to how these factors impact the neuropsychological development of children. Among others, maternal lifestyles, overweight and obesity and tobacco habits showed a negative association with child neurodevelopment. Considering maternal diet during pregnancy we observed that fish consumption could be both beneficial and harmful for children neurodevelopment. Regarding the health guidelines, our results showed that folic acid had beneficial effects in children´s neuropsychological development. Although extremely high doses of folic acid have been related to cognitive and psychomotor problems during childhood. Our study showed that breastfeeding is a protective factor against behavioral problems such as autism. Exposure to different particles that are in the environment had showed to have a negative effect in children neurodevelopment. The closeness to green spaces was related to an improvement of attention in children. This work concludes that mothers´ lifestyles and sanitary patterns women follow during pregnancy, as well as their environmental exposure could be related to the future neuropsychological development of their children.; Osasunaren esparruan oro har, eta zehazki Osasun Publikoarenean, azken bi mendeetan ingurumenak osasunean duen eragina aztertzeak interesa piztu du. Marc Lalondek, 1974. urtean osasun-eredua garatu zuen, eta azpimarratu zuen bizi-ohiturek eta inguruko faktoreek osasunean zuten eragina. Artikulu honen helburu orokorra da faktore hauek haurraren garapen neuropsikologikoan nola eragiten duten aztertzea helburutzat duten INMA proiektuko hainbat lanen emaitza esanguratsuenak azpimarratzea. Hala nola, emakumeen bizi-estiloekin erlazionatutako gainpisu/obesitateak eta erretze-ohiturak asoziazio negatiboa erakutsi zuten haurraren garapen neuropsikologikoarekin. Elikadura-ohiturei dagokienez, ikusi zen arraina osasunerako onuragarriak zein kaltegarriak diren substantzien garraio dela. Emakume haurdunek jarraitzen zituzten ekimenei dagokienez, gure proiektuko emaitzek erakutsi zuten azido folikoaren dosi altuegi zein baxuegiek haurren garapen neuropsikologikoan eragin positiboak zituztela. Edoskitze naturalak autismoa bezalako jokabide-arazoentzat eragin babesgarria zuela erakutsi zuten gure ikerketek. Ingurumen faktoreek haurraren garapenean eta osasunean kalteak dakartzatela ikusi da. Berdeguneek duten eragina, ordea, onuragarria dela ikusi da. Lan honek haurdunaldian emakumeak jarraitzen dituen bizi-ohiturak eta osasun-sistemaren aholkuak zein emakumeak dituen ingurumen-esposizioak haurraren garapen neuropsikologikoan duen eragina erakutsi du