Telomere Dynamics as Indicators of Social Adversity in Environmental Epidemiology

项目概要 广泛的研究表明神经内分泌系统对化学和非化学物质都很敏感 压力源。多溴二苯醚 (PBDE) 是一类内分泌干扰化学物质，具有 已证明能够改变甲状腺激素的循环水平，这对正常大脑至关重要 发展。同样，早年暴露于社会心理压力源也与精神分裂和精神分裂有关。 内分泌系统稳态和不良神经发育终点。这些结果表明 PBDEs 和社会压力源通过重叠机制发挥作用，突出了一个合理的生物途径 相互作用并强调需要检查其综合影响。然而，该领域的研究已 由于缺乏用于量化社会条件（一个主题领域）的暴露评估方法而受到阻碍 最近被确定为环境健康科学领域的研究空白和优先事项。过去 端粒（位于染色体末端的重复非编码 T2AG3 序列）已经出现 作为一种有前途的社会决定因素生物标志物，为检查 社会因素的生物学表现。我们的目标是通过调查这种关系来推进这方面的知识 产前和产后接触多溴二苯醚与社会逆境之间的关系，使用问卷数据和 端粒动力学，对认知和行为表现的影响。我们将利用现有的 哥伦比亚儿童环境健康母亲和新生儿研究中心的基础设施 城市少数民族母子二人组的纵向出生队列。该提案处于健康领域的前沿 差异和环境健康研究。我们寻求回答改善人们健康的关键问题 低收入、少数群体，他们经常过度接触化学物质和非化学物质 化学应激源。研究结果将促进目前对复杂病因学的理解 神经发育障碍，包括社会和环境的独立和相互作用的影响 因素。这些知识对于制定相关的公共卫生政策和有效的预防和治疗至关重要。 减少接触和改善人口健康的干预策略。

PROJECT SUMMARY Extensive research suggests the neuroendocrine system is sensitive to both chemical and non-chemical stressors. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are one class of endocrine disrupting chemicals with demonstrated ability to alter circulating levels of thyroid hormones, which are critical for normal brain development. Likewise, early-life exposure to psychosocial stressors has been associated with both disrupted endocrine system homeostasis and adverse neurodevelopmental endpoints. These results suggest PBDEs and social stressors operate through overlapping mechanisms, highlighting a plausible biologic pathway for interaction and underscoring the need to examine their integrated effects. However, research in this field has been impeded by a paucity of exposure assessment methods for quantifying social conditions, a topic area recently identified as a research gap and priority in the field of environmental health science. In the past decade telomeres, the repetitive, non-coding T2AG3 sequences located at chromosome ends, have emerged as a promising biomarker of social determinants, providing a potentially objective approach for examining the biological manifestation of social factors. We aim to advance this knowledge by investigating the relationship between pre and postnatal exposure to PBDEs and social adversity, measured using questionnaire data and telomere dynamics, on cognitive and behavioral performance. We will conduct this work using the existing infrastructure of the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health Mothers and Newborns Study, a longitudinal birth cohort of urban, minority mother-child dyads. This proposal is at the cutting edge of health disparities and environmental health research. We seek to answer critical questions for improving the health of low-income, minority populations, who often experience disproportionate exposure to both chemical and non- chemical stressors. The results will advance the current understanding of the complex etiologies underlying neurodevelopmental disorders, including the independent and interactive effects of social and environmental factors. This knowledge is critical for developing relevant public health policies and effective prevention and intervention strategies for reducing exposures and improving population health.