胎内で大気汚染にさらされると生殖器系の発達に影響する可能性(Exposure to Air Pollution In Utero May Affect Reproductive System Development)

202-11-15 ラトガース大学

<関連情報>

• https://www.rutgers.edu/news/exposure-air-pollution-utero-may-affect-reproductive-system-development
• https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP12627

多施設共同米国TIDESコホートにおける、男性プログラム期間およびミニ思春期における大気汚染曝露と出生時および1歳時の肛門性器距離および陰茎幅との関連性 Associations of Exposure to Air Pollution during the Male Programming Window and Mini-Puberty with Anogenital Distance and Penile Width at Birth and at 1 Year of Age in the Multicenter U.S. TIDES Cohort

Emily S. Barrett https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9463-524X, Sima Sharghi, Sally W. Thurston, Marissa Sobolewski Terry, Christine T. Loftus, Catherine J. Karr, Ruby H.N. Nguyen, Shanna H. Swan, and Sheela Sathyanarayana
Environmental Health Perspectives  Published:15 November 2023
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP12627

Abstract

Background:
Ambient air pollution may be a developmental endocrine disruptor. In animal models, gestational and perinatal exposure to diesel exhaust and concentrated particulate matter alters anogenital distance (AGD), a marker of prenatal androgen activity, in both sexes. Little is known in humans.

Objectives:
We examined exposure to fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) in relation to human AGD at birth and at 1 year of age, focusing on exposures during critical windows of reproductive development: the male programming window (MPW; gestational weeks 8–14) and mini-puberty (postnatal months 1–3).

Methods:
The Infant Development and Environment Study (TIDES) recruited first trimester pregnant women (n=687) at four U.S. sites (Minneapolis, Minnesota; Rochester, New York; San Francisco, California; and Seattle, Washington) from 2010 to 2012. We measured anus to clitoris (AGD-AC) and anus to fourchette (AGD-AF) in female infants at birth; in males, we measured anus to penis (AGD-AP), anus to scrotum (AGD-AS), and penile width at birth and at 1 year of age. Using advanced spatiotemporal models, we estimated maternal exposure to PM_2.5 and NO₂ in the MPW and mini-puberty. Covariate-adjusted, sex-stratified linear regression models examined associations between PM_2.5 and NO₂ and AGD.

Results:
In males, a μ1-μg/m³ increase in PM_2.5 exposure during the MPW was associated with shorter AGD at birth, but a longer AGD at 1 year of age (e.g., birth AGD-AP: β=-0.35mm; 95% CI: -0.62, -0.07; AGD-AS: ββ=0.37mm; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.73). Mini-pubertal PM2.5 exposure was also associated with shorter male AGD-AP (β=-0.50mm; 95% CI: -0.89, -0.11) at 1 year of age. Although not associated with male AGD measures, 1-ppb increases in NO₂ exposure during the MPW (β=-0.07mm; 95% CI: -0.02, -0.12) and mini-puberty (β=-0.04mm; 95% CI: -0.08, 0.01) were both associated with smaller penile width at 1 year of age. Results were similar in multipollutant models, where we also observed that in females AGD-AC was inversely associated with PM_2.5 exposure, but positively associated with NO₂ exposure.

Discussion:
PM_2.5 and NO₂ exposures during critical pre- and postnatal windows may disrupt reproductive development. More work is needed to confirm these novel results and clarify mechanisms.