Bisphenol A and Child Vascular Health: A Preview of Future Heart Disease Risk?

Open in a separate window

Exposures to phthalates and bisphenols have well-documented adverse effects on reproductive health and human development.¹ These endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are also associated with obesity, hypertension, and blood vessel lesions in cross-sectional studies of adolescents and adults.^2–5 It is conceivable that processes leading to such damage start early in life and may be affected by prenatal chemical exposure.^6,7 A study recently published in Environmental Health Perspectives examined this question in children followed from gestation into childhood.⁸The authors measured phthalates and bisphenols in urine samples from 935 pregnant Generation R participants during their first, second, and third trimesters. The Generation R Study, based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, comprises a population-based prospective cohort.⁹ At approximately 10 years of age, the women’s children underwent ultrasounds for two measurements of the common carotid artery: distensibility (elasticity) and intima-media thickness (the thickness between the intima and media layers of the vessel wall). Both distensibility and intima-media thickness reflect vascular health in the whole body^10–12; thicker vessel walls and reduced elasticity are considered distinct but overlapping risk factors for cardiovascular disease in adulthood, such as atherosclerosis.¹³Open in a separate windowThe intima layer of the artery (shown in black) is composed of endothelial cells, and the media layer (shown in pink) is made of smooth muscle and elastic fibers. Combined expansion (diastole) and contraction (systole) of the media layer pushes blood through the artery and controls blood pressure. In this transmission electron micrograph, the intima has accordioned due to contraction of the media. Image: © Steve Gschmeissner/Science Source.The authors analyzed the children’s vascular measurements in association with their mothers’ prenatal levels of three bisphenols [bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol S (BPS), and bisphenol F (BPF)], low-molecular-weight phthalates as a group, high-molecular-weight phthalates, and three individual phthalates. They found no associations between any of the chemicals and distensibility. However, higher maternal urine concentrations of total bisphenols and of BPA alone were associated with thinner vessel walls in the children’s carotid artery. No associations were found for BPS, BPF, or any phthalate.The association of higher total bisphenol and BPA exposure with thinner—rather than thicker—vessel walls surprised the team initially but is biologically plausible, says first author Sophia Blaauwendraad. “Associations between higher BPA levels and atherosclerosis in adulthood [demonstrated in earlier studies¹⁴] could be due to oxidative stress that accelerates the formation of atherosclerotic plaques and thickens the vascular wall,” says Blaauwendraad, a physician and graduate student in epidemiology under senior coauthor Vincent Jaddoe at Rotterdam’s Erasmus University Medical Center. Fetal exposures, on the other hand, may be associated with an underdevelopment of the vasculature in childhood, the authors speculate. However, Blaauwendraad says, as yet no prospective studies have tracked intima-media thickness measures from childhood to adulthood.¹⁵Nikki Posnack, an assistant professor of pharmacology, physiology, and pediatrics at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, says the study’s strengths include its large sample size and measurements of several subtypes of phthalates and bisphenols at three different time points during pregnancy. Posnack, who was not involved in the research, says, “This is a compelling study that opens up new opportunities for mechanistic follow-up studies in model systems.” Such studies could examine whether BPA disrupts development of blood vessels and alters their contractile properties,¹⁶ similar to the chemical’s disruption of hormonal regulation.According to Lars Lind, a professor of medicine at Uppsala University in Sweden, who also was not involved in the project, studying the effect of the chemicals on early vascular changes in animal models would be worthwhile and should be accompanied by replication efforts in other human birth cohorts. “Since the findings were unexpected, replication is critical to increase our faith in them,” says Lind. “But it is possible that these chemicals may have different effects at the fetal stage than later in life.”The association with total bisphenols appears to have been driven mainly by BPA; BPS and BPF were below the limit of detection in more than half the samples, possibly because they were collected in 2002–2006, when these chemicals were used less than today. However, human exposure to these BPA replacement chemicals has been increasing.¹⁷ “With that in mind,” Posnack says, “I think the study fills an important knowledge gap by exploring if exposure to any bisphenols in utero may affect subclinical indicators of vascular disease risk later in life.”     

Evaluation of a Wastewater-Based Epidemiological Approach to Estimate the Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Infections and the Detection of Viral Variants in Disparate Oregon Communities at City and Neighborhood Scales

Background: Positive correlations have been reported between wastewater SARS-CoV-2 concentrations and a community’s burden of infection, disease or both. However, previous studies mostly compared wastewater to clinical case counts or nonrepresentative convenience samples, limiting their quantitative potential.Objectives: This study examined whether wastewater SARS-CoV-2 concentrations could provide better estimations for SARS-CoV-2 community prevalence than reported cases of COVID-19. In addition, this study tested whether wastewater-based epidemiology methods could identify neighborhood-level COVID-19 hotspots and SARS-CoV-2 variants.Methods: Community SARS-CoV-2 prevalence was estimated from eight randomized door-to-door nasal swab sampling events in six Oregon communities of disparate size, location, and demography over a 10-month period. Simultaneously, wastewater SARS-CoV-2 concentrations were quantified at each community’s wastewater treatment plant and from 22 Newport, Oregon, neighborhoods. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was sequenced from all positive wastewater and nasal swab samples. Clinically reported case counts were obtained from the Oregon Health Authority.Results: Estimated community SARS-CoV-2 prevalence ranged from 8 to 1,687/10,000 persons. Community wastewater SARS-CoV-2 concentrations ranged from 2.9 to 5.1log10 gene copies per liter. Wastewater SARS-CoV-2 concentrations were more highly correlated (Pearson’s r=0.96; R2=0.91) with community prevalence than were clinically reported cases of COVID-19 (Pearson’s r=0.85; R2=0.73). Monte Carlo simulations indicated that wastewater SARS-CoV-2 concentrations were significantly better than clinically reported cases at estimating prevalence (p<0.05). In addition, wastewater analyses determined neighborhood-level COVID-19 hot spots and identified SARS-CoV-2 variants (B.1 and B.1.399) at the neighborhood and city scales.Discussion: The greater reliability of wastewater SARS-CoV-2 concentrations over clinically reported case counts was likely due to systematic biases that affect reported case counts, including variations in access to testing and underreporting of asymptomatic cases. With these advantages, combined with scalability and low costs, wastewater-based epidemiology can be a key component in public health surveillance of COVID-19 and other communicable infections. https://doi.org/10.1289/{"type":"entrez-protein","attrs":{"text":"EHP10289","term_id":"372009674","term_text":"EHP10289"}}EHP10289     

Screening for Candida auris in patients admitted to eight intensive care units in England, 2017 to 2018

Background Candida auris is an emerging multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen associated with bloodstream, wound and other infections, especially in critically ill patients. C. auris carriage is persistent and is difficult to eradicate from the hospital environment.AimWe aimed to pilot admission screening for C. auris in intensive care units (ICUs) in England to estimate prevalence in the ICU population and to inform public health guidance.MethodsBetween May 2017 and April 2018, we screened admissions to eight adult ICUs in hospitals with no previous cases of C. auris, in three major cities. Swabs were taken from the nose, throat, axilla, groin, perineum, rectum and catheter urine, then cultured and identified using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Patient records were linked to routine ICU data to describe and compare the demographic and health indicators of the screened cohort with a national cohort of ICU patients admitted between 2016 and 2017.ResultsAll C. auris screens for 921 adults from 998 admissions were negative. The upper confidence limit of the pooled prevalence across all sites was 0.4%. Comparison of the screened cohort with the national cohort showed it was broadly similar to the national cohort with respect to demographics and co-morbidities.ConclusionThese findings imply that C. auris colonisation among patients admitted to ICUs in England is currently rare. We would not currently recommend widespread screening for C. auris in ICUs in England. Hospitals should continue to screen high-risk individuals based on local risk assessment.     

Exploring the Positions of German and Israeli Patient Organizations in the Bioethical Context of End-of-Life Policies

Patient organizations are increasingly involved in national and international bioethical debates and health policy deliberations. In order to examine how and to what extent cultural factors and organizational contexts influence the positions of patient organizations, this study compares the positions of German and Israeli patient organizations (POs) on issues related to end-of-life medical care. We draw on a qualitative pilot study of thirteen POs, using as a unit of analysis pairs comprised of one German PO and one Israeli PO that were matched on the basis of organizational category. Bioethical positions that emanated from the interviews concerned advance directives—general views, recent legal framework, and formalization; as well as active and passive euthanasia, withholding and withdrawing of treatment, and physician-assisted suicide. In addition to the unifying, within-country impact of cultural factors, we found that constituency-based organizations and partner organizations in both countries often share common views, whereas disease-based support organizations have very heterogeneous positions. We conclude by discussing how organizational contexts provide a source of uniformity as well as diversity in the positions of POs.     

Versorgungssituation von Kindern,Jugendlichen und Erwachsenen mit sexuellen Gewalterfahrungen in Deutschland

Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz - In Deutschland ist seit 2010 die Auseinandersetzung um sexuelle Gewalterfahrungen, auch über die umfangreichen...