Newsfeed

Celebrating Innovation: Meet the OIF Round 1 Principal Investigators

Posted on by Jodi Snare

The ECHO Coordinating Center is pleased to announce that the NIH ECHO Program Office has selected 11 investigators to receive research funding through the ECHO Opportunities and Innovation Fund (OIF).

The OIF is an NIH-funded grant mechanism to support early career investigators on projects that can introduce new research, tools, and technologies in the ECHO Program. Each OIF investigator is sponsored by an ECHO award. In ECHO Cohort Cycle 2, NIH expects to provide OIF funding through five rounds.

For this first round, NIH requested proposals focusing on the following areas:

  • The Science of Operations
    • Return of individual research results
    • Filling remaining gaps in remote assessment
  • Scientific Areas
    • Early origins of health disparities
    • Health trajectories
    • Resilience
    • Application of modern causal inference methods

Congratulations to the awardees! See below for the full list of awardees and their research proposal titles:

  1. Sylvia Badon, PhD – Hedderson Award, Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research
    • Estimating Adiposity: Validity of Skinfold Thickness as a Measure of Body Fat Mass Across Childhood
  2. Helen Chin, PhD, MPH – Hunt Award, George Mason University
    • Prenatal and Minipubertal Exposure to Air Pollution and Pubertal Timing
  3. Whitney Cowell, PhD, MPH – Trasande Award, New York University School of Medicine
    • Expanding Report Back to Diverse Communities
  4. Emily Ho, PhD – Measurement Core Award, Northwestern University
    • Validating Remote Assessment of Neurocognitive Outcomes in English and Spanish Children 3 and up Using the V3 NIH Toolbox Participant Examiner App
  5. Christine Loftus, PhD, MS, MPH – Karr Award, University of Washington
    • Development of a Rapid Response Protocol for Acute Wildfire Smoke Exposure
  6. Siyuan Ma, MS, PhD – Hartert Award, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
    • The Role of Airway “Sociobiome” in Neighborhood-Related Childhood Asthma Burden
  7. Jiwon Oh, MPH, PhD – Schmidt Award, University of California, Davis
    • Prenatal Air Pollution Exposure, Maternal Inflammation, and Child Neurodevelopment: Influences of Interpersonal and Neighborhood Socioecological Factors
  8. Alicia Peterson, PhD – Ferrara Award, Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research
    • Air Pollution Exposure and Pubertal Development: Identifying Possible Early Origins of Health Disparities
  9. Alexandra Sullivan, PhD – Zhao Award, University of California San Francisco
    • Advancing Equity-Centered Remote Assessment of Parenting and Child Self-Regulation: Tailoring and Validating Brief Remote Parent-Child Observations and Coding in ECHO
  10. Mingyu Zhang, PhD, MHS – Oken Award, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
    • Ambient Temperature During Pregnancy and the Cardiovascular Health of Pregnant Women and Their Children
  11. Zhaozhong Zhu, ScD – Camargo Award, Massachusetts General Hospital
    • Causal Relationship Between Methylation Quantitative Trait Loci (meQTL) and Childhood Asthma

NIH Study Finds Exposure to Flame-Retardant Chemicals During Pregnancy Was Associated with Varying Childhood Obesity Risks

Posted on by Jodi Snare

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Study reveals a complex link between pregnancy exposure to common chemicals and childhood obesity, researchers say.

Exposure to organophosphate esters (OPEs)—chemicals found in everyday products that use plastics and flame retardants—during pregnancy may have varying effects on the risks of childhood obesity, according to a new study funded by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program at the National Institutes of Health.

The study found that children aged 5 to 10 years who were exposed to higher levels of dibutyl phosphate and di-isobutyl phosphate (DBUP/DIBP) during pregnancy had a 14% greater risk of developing obesity compared to those with the lowest exposure levels. In contrast, children whose mothers had higher exposure levels of bis (1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (BDCPP) during pregnancy had a 15% lower risk of developing obesity than those with the lowest levels of exposure.

“We are just beginning to understand how OPE exposure might be connected to obesity. Our findings suggest that the relationship between OPE exposure during pregnancy and childhood obesity is complicated, and more research is needed to look at a wider range of OPE chemicals,” said Assiamira Ferrara, MD, PhD, senior research scientist at Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research.

These chemicals are OPEs, which replaced polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) as flame retardants and plastic softeners in the mid-2000s. Studies in toxicology and epidemiology suggest that these substances can interfere with hormone systems and may be linked to obesity.

The study involved 5,087 mother-child pairs from 14 ECHO Cohort Study Sites. Researchers measured the levels of OPEs in the mother's urine during pregnancy and their children's body mass index (BMI) during infancy up to age 10. The participants were pregnant between 2006 and 2020 when OPEs were being rolled out to replace PBDEs.

“These findings underscore the need for further research to inform public health programs and regulatory policies aimed at mitigating childhood obesity risks from environmental chemical exposures,” said Alicia K. Peterson, PhD staff scientist at Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research.

Researchers across the ECHO Cohort reviewed and analyzed data for this study. This collaborative research  was published in Environment International.

Peterson, AK, et al. “Gestational Exposure to Organophosphate Ester Flame Retardants and Risk of Childhood Obesity in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes.” Environment International. DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.109071.

###

About ECHO: Launched in 2016, the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program is a research program in the Office of the Director at the NIH with the mission to enhance the health of children for generations to come. ECHO investigators study the effects of a broad range of early environmental influences on child health and development. For more information, visit echochildren.org.

About the NIH: NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information, visit www.nih.gov.

 

Media Contacts

For information or to request an interview, contact Rebekah Yeager,  rebekah.yeager@nih.gov.

If you are not a member of the media, but have a general inquiry, please contact  NIHKidsandEnvironment@od.nih.gov.

Connect With Us

echo connectorCheck out the recent issues of our bi-monthly newsletter, the ECHO Connector, for program news and the latest research findings.

To receive the ECHO Connector through email, subscribe here.

Follow @ECHOChildHealth for the latest ECHO Program updates on X.

NIH Study Explores Pollution Exposure and Birth Outcomes in Pregnant Women Living in Historically Redlined Neighborhoods

Posted on by Jodi Snare

Residence in redlined census tracts during pregnancy was associated with higher exposure to PM2.5 and lower birth weight in a recent study funded by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program. Redlining is the historical practice of designating certain neighborhoods, often where minority groups lived, as risky investments for lenders. Additionally, living in ungraded census tracts was linked to elevated PM2.5 exposure, lower birth weight, and increased odds of low birth weight. These findings underscore the complex nature of structural racism, suggesting that factors beyond redlining may contribute to ongoing inequalities in health outcomes. Further research is needed to explore these dynamics and their implications for maternal and infant health. Read the research summary here.

New ECHO Research Finds Children with Autism at Higher Risk for a Range of Health Outcomes

Posted on by Jodi Snare

Collaborative ECHO research led by Elizabeth Kaplan-Kahn, PhD, Kristen Lyall, ScD of the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute at Drexel University and Heather Volk, PhD, MPH of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University investigates the factors that influence the overall health and well-being of people on the autism spectrum. This research, titled “Describing Multidomain Health Outcomes in Autistic Children in the ECHO Program,” is published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Approximately 3% of children in the United States have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (or autism). A large proportion of autism research focuses on understanding the factors that influence the development of autistic traits. However, many people on the autism spectrum report that they would rather prioritize research into the factors that influence their overall health and well-being. This study addressed that priority by investigating the physical, emotional, and overall health outcomes of children on the autism spectrum.

The study included over 4,500 children and adolescents at 29 ECHO research sites across the United States, including 286 participants with autism, with participants varying in age from 5 to 20 years old. The research team conducted an initial analysis on the 4,511 participants by comparing data on their health outcomes and demographic characteristics. They then used a subsample of 1,809 participants, of which 116 were autistic, to group children with similar physical health, emotional health, and overall well-being outcomes into one of three categories, “positive health,” “poorer health,” and “mixed health.”

These profiles were categorized based on data from the research team’s primary outcome measures—multiple Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Global Health scores, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) Dysregulation score, the Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition (SRS-2), and standardized Body Mass Index (BMI). These measures evaluated participants’ peer relations, life satisfaction, behavior dysregulation, sleep disturbances, physical activity, etc. The three profiles of participants were then further analyzed to study differences in health outcomes between children on the autism spectrum to non-autistic children.

The study results indicate that autistic children are at higher risk than non-autistic children for poorer health outcomes indicated by lowest scores in Global Health and highest dysregulation scores (e.g. attention problems, aggressive behavior, and anxious-depressive symptoms). However, there is variability in health outcomes within autistic youth as shown by a group of autistic participants who showed high scores on positive health outcomes across domains. Additionally, compared to non-autistic children, more autistic children were born prematurely, had diagnoses of intellectual disability and ADHD, and had a sibling with autism.

“The results of this study offer a glimpse into the range of emotional, physical, and overall health outcomes for children on the autism spectrum,” Dr. Kaplan-Kahn said. “A deeper understanding of the range of health outcomes children with autism experience, and the factors that can affect these outcomes, may help families and practitioners identify and target areas for support or intervention.”

Future work may focus on understanding the factors that influence poor or positive health for children with autism and how those factors change over time. This work might identify opportunities to support these children and promote positive health outcomes.

Read the research summary.

Researchers Publish Overview of Existing Chemical Exposure Research using ECHO Cohort Data

Posted on by Jodi Snare

ECHO Research Spotlight — September 2024

ECHO researchers led by Emily Barrett, PhD, MA of the Rutgers University School of Public Health published a scoping review of existing ECHO research that evaluates the impact of chemical exposures on maternal and child health. A scoping review summarizes and provides an overview of the past and current research on a topic at a given point in time.

The review, titled “Advancing Understanding of Chemical Exposures and Maternal-child Health Through the U.S. Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program: A Scoping Review,” was recently published in Current Environmental Health Reports.

While specific environmental chemical exposures have been proven to impact child well-being, exposure studies are often limited in size and variance, limiting the ability to draw generalizable conclusions from results. With data from more than 60,000 participants from 69 groups of pregnant participants, the ECHO program is the largest study of U.S. children’s health and a unique opportunity for more-representative research.

Barrett and her team analyzed the current landscape of chemical exposure research using ECHO Cohort data. The review was developed to understand how the program has made strides in understanding environmental contributors to maternal and child health.

“With several years of ECHO under our belts, including thousands of biospecimens analyzed for chemical exposures (by ECHO researchers), we thought it was time to check in on the progress that had been made and to highlight the new opportunities opening in Cycle 2 of ECHO,” she said.

Through December 31, 2023, 1,530 papers total were published acknowledging ECHO funding. As of early 2024, there were more than 200 single-cohort papers published on chemical exposures through support of ECHO. In addition, 10 collaborative multi-cohort papers have been published using harmonized ECHO Cohort data. These multi-cohort papers have examined prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), phthalates, phenols, parabens, organophosphate esters (OPEs), metals, melamine, aromatic amines, and emerging contaminants.

The NICHD’s Data and Specimen Hub (DASH) database houses extensive ECHO data including over 470,000 chemical assay results and complementary data on priority outcome areas (pre, peri-, and postnatal, airway, obesity, neurodevelopment, and positive health), making it a rich resource for future analyses.

The review points out that ECHO research has focused primarily on prenatal exposures as they relate to birth outcomes such as preterm birth or size at birth. Studies focused on later child health outcomes are anticipated in coming years as follow-up of participating children continues.

“As the ECHO Cohort matures, we’ll be better able to address later child health outcomes including asthma, neurodevelopmental disorders, and obesity,” Barrett said. “With many more ECHO-wide analyses of chemical exposures data ongoing, this is a really active area within ECHO. I would love to update this review five years from now, so we can see just how far we’ve come.”

Barrett also emphasized the value of ECHO research into new and emerging contaminants that may pose risks for children. “As older chemicals are phased out, often due to safety concerns, and newer replacements emerge, it’s imperative that we understand how they may be impacting children’s health and development,” she said.

BREATHE Study Achieves Recruitment Success for Infants with Bronchiolitis

Posted on by Jodi Snare

The BREATHE (Bronchiolitis Recovery and the Use of HEPA Filters) study successfully reached its recruitment goal ahead of schedule and has maintained high participant retention with a 94.5% survey completion rate.

This clinical trial, part of the ECHO IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network (ISPCTN), focuses on airway health outcomes of infants hospitalized for bronchiolitis. The study, launched in November 2022 at 17 clinical sites across the country, aimed to recruit 230 children. In December 2023, study teams met their recruitment goal several months ahead of schedule and experienced successful retention over the past six months. ECHO ISPCTN anticipates sharing the primary results of this study in early 2025.

“Recruitment and retention successes are due to the hard work and dedication of each research study coordinator from the 17 sites,” said co-principal investigator Kelly Cowan, MD of the University of Vermont. “A big thank you goes out to these researchers as well as the families who agreed to participate, making a difference in children’s health outcomes.”

The goal of the BREATHE study is to determine whether using high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters in the homes of infants under one year old, who were previously hospitalized for bronchiolitis, reduces symptom-free days from respiratory issues, such as cough or trouble breathing, in the six months after discharge.

Eligible families who consented to participate were randomly placed in an intervention or control group. The intervention group used HEPA units with active filters, and the control group used HEPA units with inactive filters. Caregivers agreed to place the HEPA units where the child slept and in a common space where the child spent a large amount of time. Small air pollution monitors were placed in those rooms to measure how the HEPA filters affected indoor air quality. At the conclusion of the study, all families were welcome to keep the HEPA unit(s) and were sent an individual report of their household’s indoor air quality during the study and a summary of the overall results.

Bronchiolitis, typically caused by a viral infection, is the most common cause of hospitalization in children younger than 2 years old in the U.S. Infants hospitalized for bronchiolitis face a higher risk of persistent respiratory symptoms and developing asthma. To date, no effective treatments have been identified.

Indoor air quality influences respiratory health and may be a promising target for intervention. Homes in rural and low-resourced communities often have greater exposure to sources of air pollution such as wood stoves and wildfires.

“If the intervention is successful, in-home HEPA air filtration would provide a strategy for improving breathing for many infants that will be relatively easy for families to implement,” explained co-principal investigator Erin Semmens, PhD of the University of Montana’s Center for Population Health Research.

Learn more about the BREATHE study.

Food Insecurity in Early Life, Pregnancy May Be Linked to Higher Chance of Obesity in Children, NIH-Funded Study Finds

Posted on by Jodi Snare

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Family in grocery store

The study explores the effects of low-income, low-food-access neighborhoods on children’s obesity over time.

Children who faced food insecurity during early childhood—or whose mothers experienced it during pregnancy—had a higher body mass index (BMI) and more than 50% increased chance of developing obesity or severe obesity in childhood and adolescence, according to a new study funded by the NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program.

While previous research has linked food insecurity to obesity in adults, its impact on children is less clear. ECHO Cohort researchers explored how food insecurity during early life and pregnancy may affect the incidence of obesity in childhood and adolescence.

“Living in neighborhoods with access to healthy foods during these stages may be an important factor in preventing the development of obesity later in childhood and adolescence,” said Izzuddin M. Aris, PhD of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute. “Our findings support the need for further research on strategies to improve access to healthy food in early life.”

The study looked at data from nearly 30,000 mother-child pairs from 55 ECHO Cohort research sites nationwide. About 23% had mothers who lived in an area with limited access to grocery stores during pregnancy, and around 24% of the children lived in these areas during early childhood. Low-income-low-food-access (LILA) refers to a neighborhood with a third or more residents living more than one-half mile from a grocery store in urban areas or more than 10 miles in rural areas.

Key findings include:

  • Living in LILA neighborhoods during pregnancy or early childhood was associated with a higher BMI in the child at ages 5 and 15 and a more than 50% higher chance of developing obesity or severe obesity at ages 5, 10, and 15.
  • The associations became stronger as the children aged and were strongest among those who lived in LILA neighborhoods during early childhood and their mother’s pregnancy.

Researchers used participants' residential addresses from either pregnancy (1994 to 2023) or early childhood (1999 to 2023). They then matched these addresses with food access data from the USDA Food Access Research Atlas, which provides information on household income, vehicle availability, and neighborhood food access.

Data on children's weight and height were collected from birth through adolescence through in-person visits, medical records, and parent or caregiver reports. Researchers analyzed this data alongside the neighborhood information to investigate the relationship between food access and child BMI or obesity.

This collaborative research is published in JAMA Pediatrics.

###

Aris, I.M., “Neighborhood Food Access in Early Life and Trajectories of Child Body Mass Index and Obesity in ECHO.” JAMA Pediatrics. DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.3459.

About ECHO: Launched in 2016, the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program is a research program in the Office of the Director at the NIH with the mission to enhance the health of children for generations to come. ECHO investigators study the effects of a broad range of early environmental influences on child health and development. For more information, visit echochildren.org.

About the NIH: NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information, visit www.nih.gov.

Media Contacts

For information or to request an interview, contact Rebekah Yeager,  rebekah.yeager@nih.gov.

If you are not a member of the media, but have a general inquiry, please contact  NIHKidsandEnvironment@od.nih.gov.

Connect With Us

echo connectorCheck out the recent issues of our bi-monthly newsletter, the ECHO Connector, for program news and the latest research findings.

To receive the ECHO Connector through email, subscribe here.

Follow @ECHOChildHealth for the latest ECHO Program updates on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Eating Fish But Not Omega-3 Supplements During Pregnancy Associated With Lower Likelihood Of Autism Diagnosis, NIH-Funded Study Finds

Posted on by Jodi Snare

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Eating any amount of fish during pregnancy was associated with about a 20% lower likelihood of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis, particularly in females, and a slight reduction in autism-related traits in offspring, according to a new study funded by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program at the National Institutes of Health.

However, researchers did not find the same association with supplements containing omega-3 fatty acids.

Fish is an important source of omega-3 fatty acids, an essential nutrient during pregnancy for supporting maternal health and child neurodevelopment. A recent analysis of ECHO Cohort data revealed that about 25% of the pregnant participants reported never eating fish or consuming it less than once a month during their pregnancy. Even fewer participants reported taking omega-3 fish oil supplements.

ECHO Cohort researchers wanted to see whether low fish consumption and omega-3 supplement use during pregnancy might be associated with the occurrence of an autism diagnosis or parent-reported autism-related traits.

“Our study contributes to a growing body of evidence that demonstrates the role that prenatal diet can play in autism-related outcomes in offspring,” said ECHO Cohort researcher Emily Oken, MD, MPH, of Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Oken said the findings underscored the need for better public health messaging about guidelines for fish consumption for pregnant women, considering the low fish intake in the U.S. and the rising diagnoses of autism.

What happened during the study?

Researchers analyzed data from about 4,000 participants, examining the relationships among fish intake, supplement use, and neurodevelopmental outcomes related to autism.

Fish consumption and omega-3 supplement use were measured with dietary information reported by participants. Participants’ fish consumption was categorized as less than once a month, more than once a month but less than weekly, weekly, and two or more servings per week. About 20% of adult participants reported no fish intake, and most reported not using omega-3 or fish oil supplements.

The researchers then looked at the relationship between maternal fish intake and omega-3 fish oil supplement use during pregnancy and the occurrence of clinician-diagnosed autism and parent-reported autism-related traits. These traits were measured using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), a widely used survey completed by parents or caregivers. Higher scores on the SRS indicate the presence of more autism-related behaviors.

Consuming fish during pregnancy was associated with a lower likelihood of offspring being diagnosed with autism and a slight decrease in total SRS scores compared to not eating fish. These results were consistent across all levels of fish consumption, from "any" amount or "less than once per week" to "more than twice per week." No significant associations were found between omega-3 fish oil supplements and autism diagnosis compared to no use.

Experts recommend that people consume additional omega-3 fatty acids during pregnancy. Prenatal fish intake is a key source of omega-3 fatty acids that are critical for fetal brain development. However, fish and omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in the U.S. is low.

“This study provides yet more evidence for the safety and benefit of regular fish consumption during pregnancy,” said Dr. Oken. “Other proven benefits include lower risk for preterm birth and improved cognitive development.”

Dr. Oken led this collaborative research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Oken, E. & Lyall, K. (2024) Association of maternal fish consumption and ω-3 supplement use during pregnancy with child autism-related outcomes: results from a cohort consortium analysis. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.06.013

###

About ECHO: Launched in 2016, the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program is a research program in the Office of the Director at the NIH with the mission to enhance the health of children for generations to come. ECHO investigators study the effects of a broad range of early environmental influences on child health and development. For more information, visit echochildren.org.

About the NIH: NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information, visit www.nih.gov.

 

Media Contacts

For information or to request an interview, contact Rebekah Yeager,  rebekah.yeager@nih.gov.

If you are not a member of the media, but have a general inquiry, please contact  NIHKidsandEnvironment@od.nih.gov.

Connect With Us

echo connectorCheck out the recent issues of our bi-monthly newsletter, the ECHO Connector, for program news and the latest research findings.

To receive the ECHO Connector through email, subscribe here.

Follow @ECHOChildHealth on X for the latest ECHO Program updates.

New ECHO Cohort Research Suggests No Significant Association Between Prenatal Cannabis Exposure and Child Autism-Related Outcomes

Posted on by Jodi Snare

Collaborative ECHO research led by Chaela Nutor, MA and Patricia A. Brennan, PhD of Emory University investigates the association between prenatal cannabis exposure and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study looked at data from 11,570 school-aged children from across the United States and found no evidence that prenatal cannabis exposure increases the likelihood of ASD, regardless of the child’s sex or gestational age at birth. This research, titled “Examining the Association Between Prenatal Cannabis Exposure and Child Autism Traits: A Multi-cohort Investigation in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program,” is published in Autism Research.

This study included children and their mothers from 34 ECHO cohorts across the United States. ECHO researchers gathered data on cannabis use during pregnancy directly from mothers and from their medical records. They also collected information on ASD diagnosis, as well as caregiver-reported data on the children’s autism traits when the children were 1 to 18 years. The researchers used these data and reports to test whether prenatal cannabis use might be associated with ASD.

“With the legalization of cannabis in some areas of the United States, there has been a decrease in the perception of risk and an increase in cannabis use among pregnant women,” said Chaela Nutor. “While fetal exposure to cannabis has been linked to poorer neonatal and cognitive outcomes, relatively few studies have tested the association between prenatal cannabis exposure and autism spectrum disorder.”

The results of this study supported the findings from previous studies showing that initial unadjusted associations between prenatal cannabis exposure and ASD behaviors in school-aged children are no longer significant when controlling for other factors, such as maternal use of other substances during pregnancy.

The researchers are planning another large national study to further investigate the relationship between prenatal cannabis exposure and autism-related behaviors. Future work could examine the role of continued exposure to cannabis after mothers are aware of pregnancy, and other studies could investigate combined exposure to tobacco and cannabis and associated risk for ASD.

Read the research summary.

New ECHO Research Investigates Association Between PFAS Exposure and Bioactive Lipids in Pregnant Participants

Posted on by Jodi Snare

Collaborative ECHO research led by Himal Suthar, MIDS and Max Aung, PhD of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles investigates the association between the concentration of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the blood of pregnant participants with levels of bioactive lipids from three metabolic pathways. This research, titled “Cross-Sectional Associations between Prenatal Per- and Poly-Fluoroalkyl Substances and Bioactive Lipids in Three Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohorts,” is published in Environmental Science and Technology.

PFAS are a large, complex group of synthetic chemicals that have been used in consumer products around the world since about the 1950s. They are found in items such as non-stick cookware, stain-resistant fabrics, and firefighting foam. People are most likely exposed to these chemicals through contaminated water or food, using products containing PFAS, or breathing air with PFAS particles.

Because PFAS break down slowly, if at all, people and animals are repeatedly exposed to them, and blood levels of some PFAS can build up over time. Scientific studies have identified multiple health effects associated with PFAS exposure. Women exposed to PFAS during pregnancy are at increased risk for adverse birth outcomes and pregnancy complications.

Changes in bioactive lipids—metabolic and inflammation pathway indicators—have been linked to PFAS exposure and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Widespread evidence of human PFAS exposure and PFAS’ association with pregnancy outcomes warranted a detailed investigation into intermediate mechanisms of PFAS toxicity to inform risk assessment and develop potential interventions.

In this study, the research team estimated associations between 50 plasma bioactive lipids and 12 serum PFAS, in pairs and as a mixture, in 414 pregnant participants from three ECHO study sites. Serum PFAS was measured using liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. Plasma bioactive lipids were measured using mass spectrometry. Associations between prenatal PFAS exposure and bioactive lipids were quantified using various statistical analyses while controlling for several factors (e.g., maternal age, gestational age at sample collection, maternal education, pre-pregnancy BMI).

When researchers looked at data from different study sites, they found that higher levels of PFAS in blood were often linked with higher levels of certain bioactive lipids. The research team also noticed differences in the distribution of bioactive lipids between individual study sites, possibly driven by variations in the genetic makeup and sociodemographic characteristics of the populations or differences in environmental exposures due to diet.

Researchers found that the similar results from analyzing mixtures of and individual PFAS chemicals indicate that specific bioactive lipids could serve as useful biomarkers of PFAS exposure.

“Findings from our present study contextualize potential clinical care approaches proposed by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine by providing details on specific prenatal lipid metabolite and PFAS exposure associations,” Suthar said. “While the bioactive lipids measured in this study have not yet been tested as routine biomarkers in clinical settings, these findings aid in advancing the future of healthcare as additional and more complex lipid biomarkers become measurable and are tested for clinical use.”

The researchers plan to measure associations between bioactive lipids and perinatal mental health outcomes including perinatal and postpartum depression. Future studies could also look at the influence of other variables on this relationship. For example, researchers could investigate the influence of diet, which has been linked to changes in both PFAS and bioactive lipid concentrations.

Read the research summary.