ArticleJournal of developmental origins of health and disease2014
Arsenic exposure in early pregnancy alters genome-wide DNA methylation in cord blood, particularly in boys.
Article in Journal of developmental origins of health and disease, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 82 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
82 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 142 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prenatal Exposure to Potentially Toxic Metals and Their Effects on Genetic Material in Offspring: a Systematic Review.Biological trace element research · 2023Pooled it
- 'Omics in environmental epidemiological studies of chemical exposures: A systematic evidence map.Environment international · 2022Pooled it
- Exposure to arsenic at different life-stages and DNA methylation meta-analysis in buccal cells and leukocytes.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2021Pooled it
- Environmental Epigenetic Changes, as Risk Factors for the Development of Diseases in Children: A Systematic Review.Annals of global health · 2018Pooled it
- Maternal and early-life arsenic exposure and relative telomere length in children: Findings from the BiRCH cohort.Environmental research · 2026Article
- Impact of a prenatal exposure mixture of metals on DNA methylation-derived cell-type composition in cord blood.Environmental epigenetics · 2026Article
- The fetal exposome: cellular and epigenetic programming of neonatal immune function.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Synergic effect of arsenic exposure related methylation changes in three cohorts exposed to levels of this toxicant.International archives of occupational and environmental health · 2025Article
- Current Understanding of Sex Differences in Metal-Induced Diseases.Current environmental health reports · 2025Review
- DNA methylation signatures of arsenic exposure and obesity.Environmental epigenetics · 2025Article
- Association between urinary arsenic and the prevalence of endometriosis in women in the United States.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Review
- Endocrine disrupting chemicals: gestational diabetes and beyond.Diabetology & metabolic syndrome · 2024Review
- Evidence of reduced gestational age in response to in utero arsenic exposure and implications for aging trajectories of the newborn.Environment international · 2024Article
- Update of the risk assessment of inorganic arsenic in food.EFSA journal. European Food Safety Authority · 2024Article
- DNA methylation is associated with hair trace elements in female adolescents from two vulnerable populations in the Colombian Caribbean.Environmental epigenetics · 2024Article
- Defining high confidence targets of differential CpG methylation in response to in utero arsenic exposure and implications for cancer risk.Toxicology and applied pharmacology · 2024Article
- Early Life Environmental Exposure to Cadmium, Lead, and Arsenic and Age at Menarche: A Longitudinal Mother-Child Cohort Study in Bangladesh.Environmental health perspectives · 2023Article
- Transgenerational inheritance and its modulation by environmental cues.Current topics in developmental biology · 2023Article
- Arsenic and cancer: Evidence and mechanisms.Advances in pharmacology (San Diego, Calif.) · 2023Article
22 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Early-life inorganic arsenic exposure influences not only child health and development but also health in later life. The adverse effects of arsenic may be mediated by epigenetic mechanisms, as there are indications that arsenic causes altered DNA methylation of cancer-related genes. The objective was to assess effects of arsenic on genome-wide DNA methylation in newborns. We studied 127 mothers and cord blood of their infants. Arsenic exposure in early and late pregnancy was assessed by concentrations of arsenic metabolites in maternal urine, measured by high performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Genome-wide 5-methylcytosine methylation in mononuclear cells from cord blood was analyzed by Infinium HumanMethylation450K BeadChip. Urinary arsenic in early gestation was associated with cord blood DNA methylation (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, P-value<10-15), with more pronounced effects in boys than in girls. In boys, 372 (74%) of the 500 top CpG sites showed lower methylation with increasing arsenic exposure (r S -values>-0.62), but in girls only 207 (41%) showed inverse correlation (r S -values>-0.54). Three CpG sites in boys (cg15255455, cg13659051 and cg17646418), but none in girls, were significantly correlated with arsenic after adjustment for multiple comparisons. The associations between arsenic and DNA methylation were robust in multivariable-adjusted linear regression models. Much weaker associations were observed with arsenic exposure in late compared with early gestation. Pathway analysis showed overrepresentation of affected cancer-related genes in boys, but not in girls. In conclusion, early prenatal arsenic exposure appears to decrease DNA methylation in boys. Associations between early exposure and DNA methylation might reflect interference with de novo DNA methylation.
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