Presenter: Brandy Hill

Paper: Ambient black carbon particles reach the fetal side of human placenta

Authors: Hannelore Bové, Eva Bongaerts, Eli Slenders, Esmée M. Bijnens, Nelly D. Saenen, Wilfried Gyselaers, Peter Van Eyken, Michelle Plusquin, Maarten B.J. Roeffaers, Marcel Ameloot & Tim S. Nawrot

Abstract:
Particle transfer across the placenta has been suggested but to date, no direct evidence in real-life, human context exists. Here we report the presence of black carbon (BC) particles as part of combustion-derived particulate matter in human placentae using white-light generation under femtosecond pulsed illumination. BC is identified in all screened placentae, with an average (SD) particle count of 0.95 × 104 (0.66 × 104) and 2.09 × 104 (0.9 × 104) particles per mm3 for low and high exposed mothers, respectively. Furthermore, the placental BC load is positively associated with mothers’ residential BC exposure during pregnancy (0.63 2.42 μg per m3). Our finding that BC particles accumulate on the fetal side of the placenta suggests that ambient particulates could be transported towards the fetus and represents a potential mechanism explaining the detrimental health effects of pollution from early life
onwards.

The Department of Environmental and Occupational Health presents:

"This beautiful, greasy and rusty life: why polyunsaturated lipids were selected?"

Valerian E. Kagan, PhD, DSc
Professor
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
Graduate School of Public Health
University of Pittsburgh

Friday, January 24, 2020
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Conference Room 1155 - Public Health 

Presenter: Fan Wu

Paper: Influence of Environment and Lifestyle on Incidence and Progress of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in A German ALS Population

Authors: Sonja Korner, Johanna Kammeyer, Antonia Zapf, Magdalena Kuzma-Kozakiewicz, Maria
Piotrkiewicz, Bożenna Kuraszkiewicz, Hanna Goszczynska, Marta Gromicho, Julian
Grosskreutz, Peter M. Andersen, Mamede de Carvalho, Susanne Petri

Abstract:
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease mainly affecting upper and
lower motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Pathogenesis of ALS is still unclear, and a multifactorial etiology is presumed. The remarkable clinical heterogeneity between different phenotypes of ALS patients suggests that environmental and lifestyle factors could play a role in onset and progression of ALS. We analyzed a cohort of 117 ALS patients and 93 controls. ALS patients and controls were compared regarding physical activity, dietary habits, smoking, residential environment, potentially toxic environmental factors and profession before symptom onset and throughout the disease course. Data were collected by a personal interview. For statistical analysis descriptive statistics, statistical tests and analysis of variance were used. ALS patients and controls did not differ regarding smoking, diet and extent of physical training. No higher frequency of toxic influences could be detected in the ALS group. ALS patients lived in rural environment considerably more often than the control persons, but this was not associated with a higher percentage of occupation in agriculture. There was also a higher percentage of university graduates in the ALS group. Patients with bulbar onset were considerably more often born in an urban environment as compared to spinal onset. Apart from education and environment, ALS phenotypes did not differ in any investigated environmental or life-style factor. The rate of disease progression was not influenced by any of the investigated environmental and life-style factors. The present study could not identify any dietary habit, smoking, physical activity, occupational factor as well as toxic influences as risk factor or protective factor for onset or progression of ALS. Living in rural environment and higher education might be associated with higher incidence of ALS.

Presented by Beth L. Roman, associate professor of human genetics, member of the Heart, Lung, and Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, and basic research director, HHT Center. 

Presenter: Jenna Kuhn

Paper: Organophosphorus pesticide chlorpyrifos intake promotes obesity and insulin resistance through impacting gut and gut microbiota

Authors: Yiran Liang, Jing Zhan, Donghui Liu, Mai Luo, Jiajun Han, Xueke Liu, Chang Liu, Zheng Cheng, Zhiqiang Zhou, and Peng Wang

Abstract:
Background
Disruption of the gut microbiota homeostasis may induce low-grade inflammation leading to obesity-associated diseases. A major protective mechanism is to use the multi-layered mucus structures to keep a safe distance between gut epithelial cells and microbiota. To investigate whether pesticides would induce insulin resistance/obesity through interfering with mucus-bacterial interactions, we conducted a study to determine how long-term exposure to chlorpyrifos affected C57Bl/6 and CD-1 (ICR) mice fed high- or normal-fat diets. To further investigate the effects of chlorpyrifos-altered microbiota, antibiotic treatment and microbiota transplantation experiments were conducted.

Results
The results showed that chlorpyrifos caused broken integrity of the gut barrier, leading to increased lipopolysaccharide entry into the body and finally low-grade inflammation, while genetic background and diet pattern have limited influence on the chlorpyrifos-induced results. Moreover, the mice given chlorpyrifos-altered microbiota had gained more fat and lower insulin sensitivity.

Conclusions
Our results suggest that widespread use of pesticides may contribute to the worldwide epidemic of inflammation-related diseases.