ArticleJournal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology2021
Blood DNA methylation biomarkers of cumulative lead exposure in adults.
Article in Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Urinary Metal Levels after Repeated Edetate Disodium Infusions: Preliminary Findings.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Trial
- Atmospheric Particulate Matter as a Carrier of Pb, Cd, and Ni: From Environmental Transfer and Bioaccessibility to Molecular Toxicity and Predictive Modeling.Journal of xenobiotics · 2026Review
- Epigenetic modulation of prostate cancer disparities in men with African ancestry.Nature reviews. Urology · 2026Review
- Physiological health Age (PhysAge): a novel multi-system molecular timepiece predicts health and mortality in older adults.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Gene-specific DNA methylation responses to PbEnvironmental epigenetics · 2026Article
- Heavy Metal-Contaminated Soils and Gastric Cancer Risk: Molecular Insights and the Relevance of a One Health Perspective.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- A novel DNA methylation-based surrogate biomarker for chronic systemic inflammation (Inflammation Latent Variable Methylation Surrogate, InfLaMeS).The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025Article
- Cross-tissue molecular responses in the liver and blood after toxicant exposures.Research square · 2025Article
- Review
- Environmental pollutants and atherosclerosis: Epigenetic mechanisms linking genetic risk and disease.Atherosclerosis · 2025Review
- Epigenetic biomarkers of socioeconomic status are associated with age-related chronic diseases and mortality in older adults.PNAS nexus · 2025Article
- Childhood lead exposure and sleep problems in adolescents: a longitudinal cohort study.International archives of occupational and environmental health · 2024Article
- Exposure to Metals, Pesticides, and Air Pollutants: Focus on Resulting DNA Methylation Changes in Neurodegenerative Diseases.Biomolecules · 2024Review
- An epigenome-wide study of selenium status and DNA methylation in the Strong Heart Study.Environment international · 2024Article
- Do we underestimate risk of cardiovascular mortality due to lead exposure?The Science of the total environment · 2024Article
- Contaminant Metals as Cardiovascular Risk Factors: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2023Article
- Cohort Network: A Knowledge Graph toward Data Dissemination and Knowledge-Driven Discovery for Cohort Studies.Environmental science & technology · 2023Article
- DNA methylation-based biomarkers for cardiometabolic-related traits and their importance for risk stratification.Current opinion in epidemiology and public health · 2023Article
- A precision environmental health approach to prevention of human disease.Nature communications · 2023Review
- Epigenetics and the Exposome: DNA Methylation as a Proxy for Health Impacts of Prenatal Environmental Exposures.Exposome · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 8 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLead is a ubiquitous toxicant following three compartment kinetics with the longest half-life found in bones. Patella and tibia lead levels-validated measures of cumulative exposure-require specialized X-ray-fluorescence-spectroscopy available only in a few centers worldwide. We developed minimally invasive biomarkers reflecting individual cumulative lead exposure using blood DNA methylation profiles-obtainable via Illumina 450K or IlluminaEPIC bead-chip assays.
methodsWe developed and tested two methylation-based biomarkers from 348 Normative Aging Study (NAS) elderly men. We selected methylation sites with strong associations with bone lead levels via robust regressions analysis and constructed the biomarkers using elastic nets. Results were validated in a NAS subset, reporting specificity, and sensitivity.
findingsParticipants were 73 years old on average (standard deviation, SD = 6), with moderate lead levels of (mean ± SD patella: 27 ± 18 µg/g; tibia:21 ± 13 µg/g). Methylation-based biomarkers for lead in patella and tibia included 59 and 138 DNA methylation sites, respectively. Estimated lead levels were significantly correlated with actual measured values, (r = 0.62 patella, r = 0.59 tibia) and had low mean square error (MSE) (MSE = 0.68 patella, MSE = 0.53 tibia). Means and distributions of the estimated and actual lead levels were not significantly different across patella and tibia bones (p > 0.05). Methylation-based biomarkers discriminated participants highly exposed (>median) to lead with a specificity of 74 and 73% for patella and tibia lead levels, respectively, with 70% sensitivity.
interpretationDNA methylation-based lead biomarkers are novel tools that can be used to reconstruct decades' worth of individual cumulative lead exposure using only blood DNA methylation profiles and may help identify the consequences of cumulative exposure.
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