Telomere Dynamics as Indicators of Social Adversity in Environmental Epidemiology

项目总结 广泛的研究表明神经内分泌系统对化学物质和非化学物质都很敏感。 压力源。多溴联苯醚(PBDEs)是一类干扰内分泌的化学物质， 证明有能力改变循环中的甲状腺激素水平，这对正常的大脑至关重要 发展。同样，早年暴露于心理社会应激源也与这两种精神错乱有关。 内分泌系统动态平衡和不利的神经发育终点。这些结果表明多溴二苯醚 而社会应激源通过重叠的机制运作，突显了一条看似合理的生物途径 他们强调，必须审查它们的综合影响。然而，这一领域的研究已经 由于缺乏量化社会状况的暴露评估方法，这是一个主题领域 最近被确定为环境健康科学领域的研究空白和优先事项。在过去 十年端粒，位于染色体末端的重复的、非编码的T2AG3序列已经出现 作为一个有前途的社会决定因素的生物标志物，提供了一种潜在的客观方法来检查 社会因素的生物学表现。我们的目标是通过研究这种关系来促进这一知识的发展 出生前和出生后暴露于多溴二苯醚和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婴研究中心的基础设施 城市的纵向生育队列，少数民族母子二人组。这项提议是健康的前沿。 差异和环境健康研究。我们寻求回答改善健康的关键问题 低收入少数群体，他们经常经历不成比例的化学品和非化学品接触 化学应激源。这一结果将促进目前对潜在复杂病因的理解 神经发育障碍，包括社会和环境的独立和交互影响 各种因素。这一知识对于制定相关的公共卫生政策和有效预防和 减少暴露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.