Grantee Research Project Results
2006 Progress Report: Biomarkers For The Assessment of Exposure and Toxicity in Children
EPA Grant Number: R830825Title: Biomarkers For The Assessment of Exposure and Toxicity in Children
Investigators: Karmaus, Wilfried , Gregg, Anthony , Riebow, John , Gangur, Venugopal
Institution: Michigan State University
EPA Project Officer: Aja, Hayley
Project Period: May 1, 2003 through April 30, 2006 (Extended to December 31, 2007)
Project Period Covered by this Report: May 1, 2006 through April 30, 2007
Project Amount: $749,939
RFA: Biomarkers for the Assessment of Exposure and Toxicity in Children (2002) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Human Health , Children's Health
Objective:
Objective I: Determine the concentration in placental tissue of different markers for exposure to halogenated organic compounds (HOCs).
Objective II: Determine markers of HOC exposure in breast milk and estimate the cumulative amount of lactational HOC exposure of the infant.
Objective III: Determine markers of susceptibility for atopic disorders in cord blood such as immunoglobulin E (IgE), and the cytokines interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interferon-g (IFN-g).
Objective IV: Determine markers of effect, signaling that the child is developing an atopic manifestation (asthma-like symptoms, atopic eczema).
Progress Summary:
The current status of the project is active. Project start date was May 1, 2003, at which time logistics and methods were finalized. Since implementation in July 2003, we have been recruiting, enrolling, and following-up study participants. We have enrolled 60 eligible pregnant women. This is 13% of 463 women who were willing to participate. Inclusion criteria were first pregnancy, age 18-34, no thyroid disease or diabetes, no other chronic infectious disease. Most African American women had their first pregnancy before age 18.
Our recruitment site in Benton Harbor/St. Joseph Michigan stopped collaborating with us in January 2005 due to unsolved contract problems with the grant administration at Michigan State
University (MSU). As soon as this conflict became imminent, we commenced collaboration with the Obstetrics Department at Hurley Hospital in Flint, where we continued recruiting until June 2005.
The Principal Investigator (PI) moved to the University of South Carolina (USC) on August 16, 2005. Using start-up funds, we continued our work in Michigan and started to establish collaborations with recruitment sites in South Carolina. We have received approvals from the internal review boards for research using human subjects in clinics at Beaufort and Columbia, South Carolina. However, recently, due to work overload, the group of obstetricians in Beaufort decided not to participate at this time. The project started again at USC in August 2006 and we will start recruiting in collaboration with obstetricians in Columbia, SC in November 2006. This setting provided about 2,200 deliveries in a year. We expect to recruit 150 women within the next 12 month period.
We had a small grant from the Gerber Foundation, focused on health in Michigan, to analyze immune markers in breast milk. This grant stopped when the foundation was informed that the PI would move to South Carolina. Recently, we submitted an application to the Thrasher Research Fund to continue with the analyses of breast milk samples.
We have collected placental and breast milk samples. About 50% of the women breastfed their children. We shipped samples for chemical analyses to the Analytical Chemistry Section Laboratory, Michigan Department of Community Health, Lansing. We received results for approximately 50% of the samples (Table 1). The laboratory will analyze the next batch when it has accumulated another 50 placental and 50 breast milk samples.
We have analyzed preliminary data. They show that PCB concentrations are very low. However, DDE levels above detection limits are still found in more than 50% of the women. The PCB and DDE values in placental tissues and breast milk samples are not sufficiently correlated (Table 1), indicating a different kinetic. Our data show that higher DDE concentrations in placental tissue are significantly associated with increased levels of IL-13, a Th2 cytokine, and with the ratio of IL-4 and IL-13 to IFN-g levels (a Th1 cytokine, Figure 1).
We have spent about 50% of the funds at MSU to do 25% of the proposed work. With start-up funds at USC and the remaining $331,000, we expect to complete the work by December 2007.
Table 1. Spearman Correlation Coefficients Between Lipid Adjusted Organochlorine Compounds in Breast Milk and Placental Samples
|
Breast milk ∑PCBs (µg/g) |
Placental |
Breast milk |
Placental |
0.07 |
0.62 |
-0.55 |
Breast milk ∑PCBs (µg/g) |
|
0.23 |
0.20 |
Placental |
|
|
0.43 |
Figure 1. Scatter plot of cord plasma IL-13 concentration and placental concentration of p,p'-dichlorodiphenyl-dichloroethylene (DDE) (R2=0.68, p=0.002, n=19)
Future Activities:
The project has undergone a novation. It started again on August 15, 2006, at USC. We are still in the follow-up phase of participants from Michigan and conduct interviews from South Carolina. We will start recruiting in November 2006 in collaboration with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (private practices and residents' clinic). We expect to recruit 3-4 women per week. One of the students who participated in interviewing in Michigan has moved to South Carolina. This will ensure the consistency of the interview procedure. We are in the process of subcontracting with the Immunology Department at MSU. We will continue to determine immune markers at MSU. We have established cell separation and freezing facilities at USC and will send cells and plasma to MSU. Regarding the HOCs, all future samples will also be analyzed at the Analytical Chemistry Section Laboratory, Michigan Department of Community Health, Lansing.
Journal Articles on this Report : 7 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other project views: | All 9 publications | 7 publications in selected types | All 7 journal articles |
---|
Type | Citation | ||
---|---|---|---|
|
Brooks K, Hasan H, Samineni S, Gangur V, Karmaus W. Placental p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene and cord blood immune markers. Pediatric Allergy and Immunology 2007;18(7):621-624. |
R830825 (2006) |
Exit |
|
Burch J, Karmaus W, Gangur V, Soto-Ramirez N, Yousefi M, Goetzl LM. Pre-and perinatal characteristics and breast milk immune markers. Pediatric Research 2013;74(5):615-621. |
R830825 (2006) |
Exit Exit |
|
Karmaus W, Brooks KR, Nebe T, Witten J, Obi-Osius N, Kruse H. Immune function biomarkers in children exposed to lead and organochlorine compounds: a cross-sectional study. Environmental Health 2005;4(1):5 (10 pp.). |
R830825 (2006) |
Exit Exit |
|
Samineni S, Parvataneni S, Kelly C, Gangur V, Karmaus W, Brooks K. Optimization, comparison, and application of colorimetric vs. chemiluminescence based indirect sandwich ELISA for measurement of human IL-23. Journal of Immunoassay and Immunochemistry 2006;27(2):183-193. |
R830825 (2006) |
Exit Exit |
|
Soto-Ramírez N, Karmaus W, Yousefi M, Zhang H, Liu J, Gangur V. Maternal immune markers in serum during gestation and in breast milk and the risk of asthma-like symptoms at ages 6 and 12 months: a longitudinal study. Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology 2012;8(1):11 (13 pp.). |
R830825 (2006) |
Exit Exit |
|
Soto-Ramírez N, Karmaus W, Zhang H, Liu J, Billings D, Gangur V, Amrol D, da Costa K-A, Davis S, Goetzl L. Fatty acids in breast milk associated with asthma-like symptoms and atopy in infancy: a longitudinal study. Journal of Asthma 2012;49(9):926-934. |
R830825 (2006) |
Exit |
|
Soto-Ramírez N, Boyd K, Zhang H, Gangur V, Goetzl L, Karmaus W. Maternal serum but not breast milk IL-5, IL-6, and IL-13 immune markers are associated with scratching among infants. Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology 2016;12:25 (9 pp.). |
R830825 (2006) |
Exit Exit |
Supplemental Keywords:
infants, asthma, atopic manifestations, immunoglobulin E, interferon-γ, interleukin-4, halogenated organic compounds, susceptibility, breast feeding, in utero,, RFA, Health, Scientific Discipline, PHYSICAL ASPECTS, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, POLLUTANTS/TOXICS, HUMAN HEALTH, Health Risk Assessment, Chemicals, Endocrine Disruptors - Environmental Exposure & Risk, endocrine disruptors, Risk Assessments, Allergens/Asthma, Biochemistry, Health Effects, Physical Processes, Children's Health, Environmental Policy, Biology, Endocrine Disruptors - Human Health, Risk Assessment, asthma, asthma triggers, biomarkers, prenatal exposure, childhood development, asthma indices, exposure, airway disease, endocrine disrupting chemicals, exposure studies, air pollution, children, Human Health Risk Assessment, developmental biology, halogenated organic compounds, assessment of exposure, childhood respiratory disease, children's vulnerablity, fetal development, human growth and development, asthmatic children, human exposure, children's environmental health, harmful environmental agents, embryonic development, allergic response, halogenated orgaic compounds, biomarkerProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.