Urinary metals and maternal circulating extracellular vesicle microRNA in the MADRES pregnancy cohort
Caitlin G. Howe, Helen B. Foley, Shohreh F. Farzan, Thomas Chavez, Mark R. Johnson, John D. Meeker, Theresa M. Bastain, Carmen J. Marsit, Carrie V. Breton
Abstract
<0.05) with at least one metal in early pregnancy. One association (an inverse association between cobalt and miR-150-5p) remained statistically significant when evaluating late pregnancy miRNA counts. Eight miRNA (miR-302b-3p, miR-199a-5p, miR-188-5p, miR-138-5p, miR-212-3p, miR-608, miR-1272, miR-19b-3p) were associated with three metals (barium, mercury, and thallium) in early pregnancy, and their predicted target genes were enriched in pathways important for placental development. Results were consistent when using BKMR. Early pregnancy exposure to barium, mercury, and thallium may have short-term impacts on a common set of EV miRNA which target pathways important for placental development.