ArticleEpigenetics2017
Prenatal exposure to neurotoxic metals is associated with increased placental glucocorticoid receptor DNA methylation.
Article in Epigenetics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 75 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association of maternal exposure to trace elements and toxic metals with repeated measurements of foetal and early-childhood growth: a systematic review.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Prenatal Exposure to Potentially Toxic Metals and Their Effects on Genetic Material in Offspring: a Systematic Review.Biological trace element research · 2023Pooled it
- Toenails as a biomarker of exposure to arsenic: A review.Environmental research · 2021Pooled it
- Long-term effect of early-life arsenic exposure on morning plasma cortisol in adults from Antofagasta, Chile.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2026Article
- From Genetic Determinism to Epigenetic Regulation: Paradigm Shifts in the Understanding of Neurodevelopmental Disorders.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Review
- Does consumption of a high-fructose diet during pregnancy and lactation exacerbate the effects of maternal exposure to cadmium on development and metabolic function of mouse offspring?Journal of toxicology and environmental health. Part A · 2026Article
- Long-Term Effect of Early-Life Arsenic Exposure on Morning Plasma Cortisol in Adults from Antofagasta, Chile.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- The effects of developmental cadmium exposure on health and disease.Disease models & mechanisms · 2025Review
- Article
- Molecular signature of cadmium-mediated neurodevelopmental disorders in prenatal to postnatal stages.EXCLI journal · 2025Review
- Reproductive and Social Policies, Sociopolitical Stress, and Implications for Maternal and Child Health Equity.Current environmental health reports · 2024Review
- Association between drinking water quality and mental health and the modifying role of diet: a prospective cohort study.BMC medicine · 2024Article
- Impairments of Spatial Memory and N-methyl-d-aspartate Receptors and Their Postsynaptic Signaling Molecules in the Hippocampus of Developing Rats Induced by As, Pb, and Mn Mixture Exposure.Brain sciences · 2023Article
- Metals and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances mixtures and birth outcomes in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study: Beyond single-class mixture approaches.Chemosphere · 2023Article
- Human placental microRNAs dysregulated by cadmium exposure predict neurobehavioral outcomes at birth.Pediatric research · 2023Article
- Article
- Select Early-Life Environmental Exposures and DNA Methylation in the Placenta.Current environmental health reports · 2023Review
- The Threat Posed by Environmental Contaminants on Neurodevelopment: What Can We Learn from Neural Stem Cells?International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Perinatal Lead Exposure Promotes Sex-Specific Epigenetic Programming of Disease-Relevant Pathways in Mouse Heart.Toxics · 2023Article
- Genetics and Epigenetics of Manganese Toxicity.Current environmental health reports · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Epigenetic alterations related to prenatal neurotoxic metals exposure may be key in understanding the origins of cognitive and neurobehavioral problems in children. Placental glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1) methylation has been linked to neurobehavioral risk in early life, but has not been examined in response to neurotoxic metals exposure despite parallel lines of research showing metals exposure and NR3C1 methylation each contribute to a similar set of neurobehavioral phenotypes. Thus, we conducted a study of prenatal neurotoxic metals exposure and placental NR3C1 methylation in a cohort of healthy term singleton pregnancies from Rhode Island, USA (n = 222). Concentrations of arsenic (As; median 0.02 ug/g), cadmium (Cd; median 0.03 μg/g), lead (Pb; median 0.40 μg/g), manganese (Mn; median 0.56 μg/g), mercury (Hg; median 0.02 μg/g), and zinc (Zn; 145.18 μg/g) measured in infant toenails were categorized as tertiles. Multivariable linear regression models tested the independent associations for each metal with NR3C1 methylation, as well as the cumulative risk of exposure to multiple metals simultaneously. Compared to the lowest exposure tertiles, higher levels of As, Cd, Pb, Mn, and Hg were each associated with increased placental NR3C1 methylation (all P<0.02). Coefficients for these associations corresponded with a 0.71-1.41 percent increase in NR3C1 methylation per tertile increase in metals concentrations. For Zn, the lowest exposure tertile compared with the highest tertile was associated with 1.26 percent increase in NR3C1 methylation (P=0.01). Higher cumulative metal risk scores were marginally associated with greater NR3C1 methylation. Taken together, these results indicate that prenatal exposure to neurotoxic metals may affect the offspring's NR3C1 activity, which may help explain cognitive and neurodevelopmental risk later in life.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.