Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41660038›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental science and ecotechnology2026

Weighted network analysis of adverse outcome pathways decodes the multiscale mechanisms of environmental toxicity.

Huajie Yang, Kaiyi Zhang, Yue Wang, Shuailing Liu, Yinchu Guo, Wei Liu, Jiaxing Sun, Zhaoqi Zhang, Sen Zhang, Shenghang Li and 6 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental science and ecotechnology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Huajie YangDepartment of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300070, PR China.
Kaiyi ZhangDepartment of Accounting, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, 110001, PR China.
Yue WangDepartment of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, 110034, PR China.
Shuailing LiuCollege of Health Management, China Medical University, No. 77 Puhe Road, Shenyang North New Area, Shenyang, 110122, Liaoning, PR China.
Yinchu GuoDepartment of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110122, PR China.
Wei LiuDepartment of Biomedical-Engineering, School of Intelligent Medicine, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110122, PR China.
Jiaxing SunDepartment of Ultrasound, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, 110004, PR China.
Zhaoqi ZhangDepartment of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110122, PR China.
Sen ZhangDepartment of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110122, PR China.
Shenghang LiDepartment of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110122, PR China.
Yingcheng ZhaoThe First Clinical College, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110122, PR China.
Tong LiuSchool of Clinical Medical, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110122, PR China.
Junhong LiuPreventive Medicine, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110122, PR China.
Liang PeiKey Laboratory of Environmental Stress and Chronic Disease Control and Prevention, Ministry of Education, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110122, PR China.
Shuhua XiDepartment of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110122, PR China.
Peng ShiDepartment of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110122, PR China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The rapid proliferation of synthetic chemicals has significantly outpaced traditional toxicity characterization, leaving a critical data gap in environmental health risk assessment. While the adverse outcome pathway (AOP) framework provides a mechanistic scaffold for organizing toxicity knowledge, it is currently limited by a focus on linear pathways and a bias toward well-studied endpoints. Conversely, the exposome paradigm captures broad environmental stressors but often lacks the mechanistic depth required for causal interpretation. A fundamental challenge remains in developing integrative paradigms that can systematically bridge these multi-scale datasets to decode complex, chemical-induced diseases. Here we show that AOP-ExpoVis, an integrative computational platform, synergizes exposome-disease networks with AOP ontologies to prioritize pathogenic mechanisms through a weighted phenotype-disease scoring algorithm. By integrating chemical, gene, phenotype, and disease associations, the platform identifies key phenotypes and maps them to curated pathways to generate testable mechanistic hypotheses. Validation across three distinct case studies involving 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47), arsenic, and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) demonstrated that AOP-ExpoVis accurately identifies both conserved and chemical-specific toxic pathways, such as aryl hydrocarbon receptor activation and lipid metabolism disruption. AOP-ExpoVis provides an open-source tool for rapid mechanistic inference that overcomes the limitations of traditional, single-pathway frameworks. This work advances predictive toxicology by enabling the systematic prioritization of chemical hazards and the refinement of regulatory risk assessment in a data-rich environment.

Indexed as

Adverse outcome pathwaysChemical-disease mechanismsEnvironmental toxicologyPhenotype-disease mappingPredictive toxicology

Identifiers

PMID41660038
PMCPMC12878700

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

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.