The influence of persistent organic pollutants in the traditional Inuit diet on markers of inflammation

Concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are high in Inuit living predominately on the traditional marine diet. Adverse effects of POPs include disruption of the immune system and cardiovascular diseases that are frequent in Greenland Inuit. We aimed to assess the association between exposure to POPs from the marine diet and inflammation, taking into account other factors such as vitamin D. We invited Inuit and non-Inuit living in settlements or the town in rural East Greenland or in the capital city Nuuk. Participants completed a food frequency questionnaire and donated a blood sample for measurement of the two markers of inflammation YKL-40 and hsCRP, 25-hydroxy-vitamin D, eleven organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), fourteen polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), one polybrominated biphenyl, and nine polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) adjusted to the serum lipid content. Participants were 50 through 69 years old, living in settlements, town or city (n = 151/173/211; 95% participation rate). ΣOCP, ΣPCB and ΣPBDE serum levels were higher in Inuit than in non-Inuit (p<0.001/ p<0.001/ p<0.001), in older individuals (p<0.001/p<0.001/p = 0.002) and in participants with the highest intake of Greenlandic food items (p<0.001/p<0.001/p<0.001). Both YKL-40 and hsCRP serum levels were higher in Inuit compared to non-Inuit (p<0.001/p = 0.001), and increased with age (p<0.001/p = 0.001) and with the intake of Greenlandic food items (p<0.001/p = 0.002). Multivariate analysis conformed to a marked influence on both YKL-40 and hsCRP by ΣOCP (p<0.001/p<0.001) and ΣPCBs (p<0.001/p = 0.001) after adjusting for age, BMI, vitamin D, alcohol and smoking. POP levels were associated with the intake of the traditional Inuit diet and with markers of inflammation. This supports a pro-inflammatory role of POPs to promote chronic diseases common to populations in Greenland. These data inform guidelines on 'the Arctic dilemma' and encourage follow-up on the ageing Arctic populations

Xenohormone transactivities are inversely associated to serum POPs in Inuit

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Prenatal exposures and exposomics of asthma

This review examines the causal investigation of preclinical development of childhood asthma using exposomic tools. We examine the current state of knowledge regarding early-life exposure to non-biogenic indoor air pollution and the developmental modulation of the immune system. We examine how metabolomics technologies could aid not only in the biomarker identification of a particular asthma phenotype, but also the mechanisms underlying the immunopathologic process. Within such a framework, we propose alternate components of exposomic investigation of asthma in which, the exposome represents a reiterative investigative process of targeted biomarker identification, validation through computational systems biology and physical sampling of environmental medi

Serum concentrations (μg/kg lipid) of selected organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) among participants in the study.

<p>Serum concentrations (μg/kg lipid) of selected organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) among participants in the study.</p

Serum concentrations (μg/kg lipid) of summed organochlorine pesticides (ΣOCP), summed polychlorinated biphenyls ΣPCB), summed polybrominated diphenyl ethers (ΣPBDE) and summed OCP + summed PCB (ΣOCP+ΣPCB) among participants in the study.

<p>Serum concentrations (μg/kg lipid) of summed organochlorine pesticides (ΣOCP), summed polychlorinated biphenyls ΣPCB), summed polybrominated diphenyl ethers (ΣPBDE) and summed OCP + summed PCB (ΣOCP+ΣPCB) among participants in the study.</p

Multivariate linear regression adjusting for age, alcohol intake, smoking, BMI and vitamin D on each POP individually or the sum of OCP, PCB, OCP+PCB and PBDE.

<p>Multivariate linear regression adjusting for age, alcohol intake, smoking, BMI and vitamin D on each POP individually or the sum of OCP, PCB, OCP+PCB and PBDE.</p

Serum concentrations (μg/kg lipid) of selected polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) among participants in the study.

<p>Serum concentrations (μg/kg lipid) of selected polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) among participants in the study.</p

Characteristics of the participants in the survey, based on intake of Greenlandic diet.

<p>Characteristics of the participants in the survey, based on intake of Greenlandic diet.</p

The association between intake of Greenlandic food items and OCPs (top panel), PCBs (middle panel) and PBDEs (bottom panel).

<p>Median levels are shown with the 25^th and 75^th percentiles. P-value is for trend.</p