Biomonitoring application in the exposome assessment / 中华预防医学杂志

Biomonitoring can be applied to assess internal exposure and environmental exposure by exposure markers with providing internal exposure to biological characterization and individual exposure information, which is a key tool to evaluate the risk exposure to disease by biological alternation information. With the development of high throughput, broad spectrum and high efficiency screening and detection technology, biomonitoring is defined as traditional biological monitoring (targeted monitoring) and non targeted monitoring analysis (exposomic approaches). An exposomic approach differs from traditional biomonitoring in that it can theoretically include all exposures of potential health significance, whether they are derived from exogenous sources. Both traditional and nontraditional biomonitoring methods should be used to understand the complexity of exposures faced throughout the lifespan. Through hybrid approaches, emerging techniques and the integration of bioinformatics, and developing the detection methods for low abundance chemicals, improving the differentiation ability between endogenous and exogenous chemical, the health outcomes and exposures can be widely recognized and characterized, which can finally contribute to improving the precise prevention and intervention for diseases under the new exposomic model.

The exposome and the future of epidemiology: a vision and prospect

It is widely accepted that a relatively small proportion of chronic disease can be explained by genetic factors alone. Although information about environmental exposure is important to comprehensively evaluate chronic diseases, this information is not sufficiently or accurately assessed by comparison with genomic factors. To emphasize the importance of more complete evaluation of environmental exposure, the concept of the exposome, which indicates the entirety of environmental exposure from conception onwards, was introduced in 2005. Since the 2010s several epidemiological studies, such as the Human Early-Life Exposome project, have applied the exposome concept. The exposome consists of three overlapping domains: the general external, the specific external, and the internal environments. General external factors include the broader socioeconomic environment, and specific external factors include lifestyles, occupations, and pollutant exposures. Internal factors include biological effects and responses. Because the exposome covers exposures from conception to death, the birth cohort is an important part of the exposome study. Although there is not yet an established consensus in selecting what, when, and where to measure concerning the exposome, the use of omics analyses, especially analysis of the metabolome, should be considered in order to implement the exposome concept in the birth cohort. The exposome needs to be measured repeatedly in certain important phases of life, such as during pregnancy and infancy. To perform exposome-informed epidemiological studies, untargeted data-driven approaches in conjunction with dimension reduction techniques need to be developed and refined. The exposome concept has the potential to make a breakthrough in overcoming some of the limitations of conventional epidemiology. Concerted national and international efforts are required for future exposome studies.

Microbiome-Linked Crosstalk in the Gastrointestinal Exposome towards Host Health and Disease / 대한소아소화기영양학회지

The gastrointestinal exposome represents the integration of all xenobiotic components and host-derived endogenous components affecting the host health, disease progression and ultimately clinical outcomes during the lifespan. The human gut microbiome as a dynamic exposome of commensalism continuously interacts with other exogenous exposome as well as host sentineling components including the immune and neuroendocrine circuit. The composition and diversity of the microbiome are established on the basis of the luminal environment (physical, chemical and biological exposome) and host surveillance at each part of the gastrointestinal lining. Whereas the chemical exposome derived from nutrients and other xenobiotics can influence the dynamics of microbiome community (the stability, diversity, or resilience), the microbiomes reciprocally alter the bioavailability and activities of the chemical exposome in the mucosa. In particular, xenobiotic metabolites by the gut microbial enzymes can be either beneficial or detrimental to the host health although xenobiotics can alter the composition and diversity of the gut microbiome. The integration of the mucosal crosstalk in the exposome determines the fate of microbiome community and host response to the etiologic factors of disease. Therefore, the network between microbiome and other mucosal exposome would provide new insights into the clinical intervention against the mucosal or systemic disorders via regulation of the gut-associated immunological, metabolic, or neuroendocrine system.