Environmental Air Pollutants Inhaled during Pregnancy Are Associated with Altered Cord Blood Immune Cell Profiles

Gabriela Martins Costa Gomes, Wilfried Karmaus, Vanessa E. Murphy, Peter G. Gibson, Elizabeth Percival, Philip M. Hansbro, Malcolm R. Starkey, Joerg Mattes and Adam M. Collison
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Gabriela Martins Costa Gomes: Priority Research Centre GrowUpWell®, Hunter Medical Research Institute, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia
Wilfried Karmaus: School of Public Health, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA
Vanessa E. Murphy: Priority Research Centre GrowUpWell®, Hunter Medical Research Institute, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia
Peter G. Gibson: Priority Research Centre for Healthy Lungs, Hunter Medical Research Institute, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia
Elizabeth Percival: Priority Research Centre GrowUpWell®, Hunter Medical Research Institute, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia
Philip M. Hansbro: Priority Research Centre for Healthy Lungs, Hunter Medical Research Institute, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia
Malcolm R. Starkey: Department of Immunology and Pathology, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia
Joerg Mattes: Priority Research Centre GrowUpWell®, Hunter Medical Research Institute, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia
Adam M. Collison: Priority Research Centre GrowUpWell®, Hunter Medical Research Institute, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-16

Abstract: Air pollution exposure during pregnancy may be a risk factor for altered immune maturation in the offspring. We investigated the association between ambient air pollutants during pregnancy and cell populations in cord blood from babies born to mothers with asthma enrolled in the Breathing for Life Trial. For each patient ( n = 91), daily mean ambient air pollutant levels were extracted during their entire pregnancy for sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, particulate matter <10 ?m (PM 10 ) or <2.5 ?m (PM 2.5 ), humidity, and temperature. Ninety-one cord blood samples were collected, stained, and assessed using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). Principal Component (PC) analyses of both air pollutants and cell types with linear regression were employed to define associations. Considering risk factors and correlations between PCs, only one PC from air pollutants and two from cell types were statistically significant. PCs from air pollutants were characterized by higher PM 2.5 and lower SO 2 levels. PCs from cell types were characterized by high numbers of CD8 T cells, low numbers of CD4 T cells, and by high numbers of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) and low numbers of myeloid DCs (mDCs). PM 2.5 levels during pregnancy were significantly associated with high numbers of pDCs ( p = 0.006), and SO 2 with high numbers of CD8 T cells ( p = 0.002) and low numbers of CD4 T cells ( p = 0.011) and mDCs ( p = 4.43 × 10 ?6 ) in cord blood. These data suggest that ambient SO 2 and PM 2.5 exposure are associated with shifts in cord blood cell types that are known to play significant roles in inflammatory respiratory disease in childhood.

Keywords: air pollutants; cord blood; asthma; prenatal risk factors; particulate matter (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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