Telomere Dynamics as Indicators of Social Adversity in Environmental Epidemiology

项目摘要 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。 压力源多溴联苯醚（PBDEs）是一类内分泌干扰物， 证明了改变甲状腺激素循环水平的能力，这对正常的大脑至关重要 发展同样，早期生活中暴露于心理社会压力源与这两种干扰有关。 内分泌系统稳态和不利的神经发育终点。这些结果表明， 和社会压力通过重叠的机制运作，突出了一个合理的生物学途径， 这是一种相互作用，并强调需要审查其综合影响。然而，这一领域的研究 由于缺乏量化社会状况的风险评估方法， 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 端粒是位于染色体末端的重复的非编码T2AG3序列， 作为一个有前途的生物标志物的社会决定因素，提供了一个潜在的客观方法，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一知识 产前和产后接触多溴联苯醚与社会逆境之间的关系， 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纵向出生队列。这项建议是在健康的最前沿 差异和环境健康研究。我们寻求回答关键问题，以改善健康的 低收入的少数群体，他们经常不成比例地接触化学品和非化学品， 化学应激源这些结果将促进目前对复杂病因的理解， 神经发育障碍，包括社会和环境的独立和相互作用的影响 因素这一知识对于制定相关公共卫生政策和有效预防至关重要， 减少接触和改善人口健康的干预战略。

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.