Abstract
Background: Arsenic has immunomodulatory properties and may have the potential to alter susceptibility to infection in humans. Objectives: We aimed to assess the relation of arsenic exposure during pregnancy with immune function and hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection, defined as seroconversion during pregnancy and postpartum. Methods: We assessed IgG seroconversion to HEV between 1st and 3rd trimester (TM) and 3 months postpartum (PP) among 1100 pregnancies in a multiple micronutrient supplementation trial in rural Bangladesh. Forty women seroconverted to HEV and were matched with 40 non-seroconverting women (controls) by age, parity and intervention. We assessed urinary inorganic arsenic plus methylated species (∑As) (μg/L) at 1st and 3rd TM and plasma cytokines (pg/mL) at 1st and 3rd TM and 3 months PP. Results: HEV seroconverters' urinary ∑As was elevated throughout pregnancy. Non-seroconverters' urinary ∑As was similar to HEV seroconverters at 1st TM but declined at 3rd TM. The adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of HEV seroconversion was 2.17 (1.07, 4.39) per interquartile range (IQR) increase in average-pregnancy urinary ∑As. Increased urinary ∑As was associated with increased concentrations of IL-2 during the 1st and 3rd TM and 3 months PP among HEV seroconverters but not non-seroconverters. Conclusions: The relation of urinary arsenic during pregnancy with incident HEV seroconversion and with IL-2 levels among HEV-seroconverting pregnant women suggests arsenic exposure during pregnancy may enhance susceptibility to HEV infection.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 273-280 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Environmental Research |
Volume | 142 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 1 2015 |
Keywords
- Arsenic
- Cytokines
- Hepatitis E virus
- Immunotoxicity
- Infection
- Pregnancy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- General Environmental Science