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Pollution and Epigenetics

About this collection

From diesel particulates to endocrine disruptors, asbestos, heavy metals to molecules like bisphenol A (BPA), it is becoming increasingly clear that man’s propensity to pollute has significant consequences on human health. Moreover, strong evidence now links such pollution to changes within our epigenomes. In this new thematic series in Clinical Epigenetics, we explore the causes and consequences of pollution on the epigenome, how this may have effects not only on the epigenetics of the individual exposed to such pollution, but also review how this may be further exacerbated by downstream or “transgenerational” inheritance of these epigenetic changes.

Guest Editors: Steven Gray and Wim Vanden Berghe

Submit your research on pollution and epigenetics to Clinical Epigenetics.

  1. Adiponectin is a key protein produced in adipose tissue, with crucial involvement in multiple metabolic processes. Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), one of the phthalate compounds used as a plasticizer, has ...

    Authors: Chien-Yu Lin, Hui-Ling Lee, Ching-Way Chen, Chikang Wang, Fung-Chang Sung and Ta-Chen Su
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2023 15:87
  2. To assess the genetic and epigenetic effects promoted by Bisphenol A (BPA) exposure in adolescent males from the Spanish INMA-Granada birth cohort, and in human cells.

    Authors: Shereen Cynthia D’Cruz, Chunxiang Hao, Martin Labussiere, Vicente Mustieles, Carmen Freire, Louis Legoff, Laura Magnaghi-Jaulin, Alicia Olivas-Martinez, Andrea Rodriguez-Carrillo, Christian Jaulin, Arthur David, Mariana F. Fernandez and Fatima Smagulova
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2022 14:186
  3. Maternal air pollutants exposure is associated with a number of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). However, the underlying mechanisms are still unknown. The present stu...

    Authors: Weiqiang Zhu, Yan Gu, Min Li, Zhaofeng Zhang, Junwei Liu, Yanyan Mao, Qianxi Zhu, Lin Zhao, Yupei Shen, Fujia Chen, Lingjin Xia, Lin He and Jing Du
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2022 14:105
  4. Given the global increase in air pollution and its crucial role in human health, as well as the steep rise in prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS), a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms by whi...

    Authors: Parinaz Poursafa, Zoha Kamali, Eliza Fraszczyk, H. Marike Boezen, Ahmad Vaez and Harold Snieder
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2022 14:82
  5. Lead, a known neurotoxicant, has previously received attention in Parkinson’s disease (PD) research, but epidemiologic studies have been limited in sample size and findings are equivocal. We generated two meth...

    Authors: Kimberly C. Paul, Steve Horvath, Irish Del Rosario, Jeff M. Bronstein and Beate Ritz
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2021 13:59
  6. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-rich substances like cigarette smoke and PM2.5 induce aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR)-mediated aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor (AHRR) methylation. AHRR cg05575921 and coa...

    Authors: Disline Manli Tantoh, Ming-Chi Wu, Chun-Chao Chuang, Pei-Hsin Chen, Yeu Sheng Tyan, Oswald Ndi Nfor, Wen-Yu Lu and Yung-Po Liaw
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2020 12:117
  7. Prenatal maternal plasma persistent organic pollutant (POP) concentrations have been associated with neonatal outcomes. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Placental epigenetic mechanisms may be...

    Authors: Marion Ouidir, Pauline Mendola, Germaine M. Buck Louis, Kurunthachalam Kannan, Cuilin Zhang and Fasil Tekola-Ayele
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2020 12:103
  8. Assessing long-term health effects from a potentially harmful environment is challenging. Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) have become omnipresent in our environment. Individuals may or may not experience...

    Authors: Olivia Van Cauwenbergh, Alessandra Di Serafino, Jan Tytgat and Adelheid Soubry
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2020 12:65
  9. According to the “Developmental Origins of Health and Disease” (DOHaD) concept, the early-life environment is a critical period for fetal programming. Given the epidemiological evidence that air pollution expo...

    Authors: N. D. Saenen, D. S. Martens, K. Y. Neven, R. Alfano, H. Bové, B. G. Janssen, H. A. Roels, M. Plusquin, K. Vrijens and T. S. Nawrot
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2019 11:124

    The Article to this article has been published in Nature Communications 2019 10:3866

  10. Ambient air pollution is associated with numerous adverse health outcomes, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood; epigenetic effects including altered DNA methylation could play a role. To eval...

    Authors: Mi Kyeong Lee, Cheng-Jian Xu, Megan U. Carnes, Cody E. Nichols, James M. Ward, Sung Ok Kwon, Sun-Young Kim, Woo Jin Kim and Stephanie J. London
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2019 11:37
  11. Neural tube defects (NTDs) are common and severe congenital malformations. Pax3 is an essential gene for neural tube closure in mice but it is unknown whether altered expression or methylation of PAX3 contributes...

    Authors: Shanshan Lin, Aiguo Ren, Linlin Wang, Chloe Santos, Yun Huang, Lei Jin, Zhiwen Li and Nicholas D. E. Greene
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2019 11:13