Prenatal Particulate Matter (PM) Exposure and Natriuretic Peptides in Newborns from Mexico City.

(1) Background: The aim of this study was to assess associations between particulate matter (PM) exposure and natriuretic peptide concentrations in cord blood from newborns. (2) Methods: we conducted a cross-sectional study in Mexico City with 101 pregnant women from CIMIGEN Hospital. Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) were measured in plasma from cord blood in 51 newborns by ELISA. We estimated PM exposure (PM2.5 and PM10) at first, second and third trimester of pregnancy. (3) Results: The median and interquartile range for ANP, BNP and CNP plasma concentrations were 66.71 (46.92-80.23), 98.23 (73.64-112.30) and 1129.11 (944.10-1452.02) pg/mL, respectively. PM2.5 and PM10 levels for the whole pregnancy period were 22.2 µg/m3 and 41.63 µg/m3, respectively. Employing multivariable linear regression models adjusted for maternal age, newborn sex, smoking before pregnancy, maternal occupation and newborns' length and height, we observed a 2.47 pg/mL (95%CI: -4.67, -0.27) decrease in BNP associated with PM2.5 exposure during second trimester. Adjusted for the same set of confounders, third trimester PM10 exposure was inversely associated with ANP concentrations (beta estimate: -0.90; 95% CI: -1.80, -0.03). Neither PM10 nor PM2.5 were associated with CNP at any trimester of pregnancy. (4) Conclusions: Prenatal exposure to particulate matter was associated with ANP and BNP decrease in newborns.

Particulate matter-associated micronuclei frequencies in maternal and cord blood lymphocytes.

Studies associate particulate matter (PM) exposure with pulmonary, cardiovascular, and neurologic diseases. Elevated levels of coarse (PM10) and fine (PM2.5) PM have been reported in the Mexico City metropolitan area during the last two decades. There is limited information if these conditions affect newborns. We associated maternal exposure to PM reported by the monitoring stations considering the place of residence of each participant with the presence of genotoxic damage (cytome analysis) in maternal and umbilical cord blood (UCB) lymphocytes. Eighty-four healthy women in their last quarter of pregnancy met the inclusion criteria. Each volunteer exposure was estimated according to the average PM2.5 and PM10 levels during the last month of gestation. The micronuclei (MN) frequencies in UCB lymphocyte cultures ranged between 0 and 9. They also showed lower cell proliferation indexes than their mothers. There was a strong correlation between the maternal and the UCB MN frequency (ρ = 0.3767, P = 0.0002). Multiple regression analysis including PM10 and PM2.5 levels, maternal age, and occupation, showed a significant and positive association between UCB MN frequency and PM2.5. A statistically significant increase in the MN frequency in both maternal and UCB lymphocytes was observed in samples obtained during the dry season (higher PM levels) as compared with the MN frequency in blood samples obtained during the rainy season (lower PM levels). These results suggest that PM, mainly PM2.5 , can cross the placenta causing DNA damage in fetal cells which may increase the potential for diseases during childhood or adult life. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 60:421-427, 2019. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.