Perfluorooctanoic Acid (Pfoa) or Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (Pfos) and DNA Methylation in Newborn Dried Blood Spots in the Upstate Kids Cohort

Authors

Sonia L Robinson
Xuehuo Zeng
Weihua Guan
Rajeshwari Sundaram
Pauline Mendola
Diane L Putnick
Robert A Waterland
Chathura J Gunasekara
Kurunthachalam Kannan
Chongjing Gao
Erin M Bell
Edwina H Yeung

Publication Date

3-1-2021

Journal

Environmental Research

DOI

10.1016/j.envres.2020.110668

PMID

33387539

PMCID

PMC7946760

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

3-1-2022

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Alkanesulfonic Acids, Caprylates, Cohort Studies, DNA Methylation, Dried Blood Spot Testing, Female, Fluorocarbons, Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoproteins, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Male, Polypyrimidine Tract-Binding Protein, Pregnancy, Persistent organic pollutants, newborn dried blood spots, mother-child dyads, developmental origins of health and disease (DoHaD)

Abstract

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) are persistent organic pollutants which may alter prenatal development, potentially through epigenetic modifications. Prior studies examining PFOS/PFOA and DNA methylation have relatively few subjects (n < 200) and inconsistent results. We examined relations of PFOA/PFOS with DNA methylation among 597 neonates in the Upstate KIDS cohort study. PFOA/PFOS were quantified in newborn dried blood spots (DBS) using high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. DNA methylation was measured using the Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip with DNA extracted from DBS. Robust linear regression was used to examine the associations of PFOA/PFOS with DNA methylation at individual CpG sites. Covariates included sample plate, estimated cell type, epigenetically derived ancestry, infant sex and plurality, indicators of maternal socioeconomic status, and prior pregnancy loss. In supplemental analysis, we restricted the analysis to 2242 CpG sites previously identified as Correlated Regions of Systemic Interindividual Variation (CoRSIVs) which include metastable epialleles. At FDR90th percentile was related to DNA methylation at cg15557840, near SCRT2, SRXN1; PFOS>90th percentile was related to 2 CpG sites in a sex-specific manner (cg19039925 in GVIN1 in boys and cg05754408 in ZNF26 in girls). When analysis was restricted to CoRSIVs, log-scaled, continuous PFOS concentration was related to DNA methylation at cg03278866 within PTBP1. In conclusion, there was limited evidence of an association between high concentrations of PFOA/PFOS and DNA methylation in newborn DBS in the Upstate KIDS cohort. These findings merit replication in populations with a higher median concentration of PFOA/PFOS.