Pregnancy urinary phenol biomarker concentrations in relation to serum levels of inflammatory cytokines: Results from the EARTH study
Background: Evidence on the association between maternal phenol exposure and inflammation during pregnancy is limited and inconsistent. Objective: To evaluate associations between urinary phenol biomarkers and serum inflammatory cytokines across pregnancy, and to examine whether associations vary by...
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Elsevier
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Environment International |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412025004039 |
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| author | Xinxiu Liang Sarah Grill Xilin Shen Paige L. Williams Tamarra James-Todd Jennifer B. Ford Kathryn M. Rexrode Antonia M. Calafat Jorge E. Chavarro Russ Hauser Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón |
| author_facet | Xinxiu Liang Sarah Grill Xilin Shen Paige L. Williams Tamarra James-Todd Jennifer B. Ford Kathryn M. Rexrode Antonia M. Calafat Jorge E. Chavarro Russ Hauser Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón |
| author_sort | Xinxiu Liang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Evidence on the association between maternal phenol exposure and inflammation during pregnancy is limited and inconsistent. Objective: To evaluate associations between urinary phenol biomarkers and serum inflammatory cytokines across pregnancy, and to examine whether associations vary by trimesters. Methods: We included 175 pregnant women from the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center and participating in the Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) Study (2005–2017), with available data on urinary concentrations of eight phenol biomarkers and serum inflammatory biomarkers, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Linear regression models were employed to assess the association between individual phenol biomarker concentrations and log-transformed inflammatory cytokine levels, while Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR) models were utilized to evaluate phenol biomarker mixtures. Analyses were further stratified by the trimester of sample collection. Results: Overall, detectable urinary ethylparaben was positively associated with serum hsCRP (β: 0.464; 95 % CI: 0.012, 0.917). In trimester-specific analyses, urinary butylparaben was positively associated with hsCRP (β: 0.533; 95 % CI: 0.006, 1.059) in the first trimester, but negatively associated with IL-6 (β: −0.613; 95 % CI: −1.062, −0.164) in the second trimester. Urinary bisphenol A was inversely associated with hsCRP (β: −0.428; 95 % CI: −0.731, −0.125) in the third trimester. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that exposure to certain phenols may disrupt inflammatory profiles in pregnancy, with effects varying by trimesters. These novel associations underscore the importance of exposure timing when assessing environmental risk factors for maternal and offspring health outcomes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6d44d1ac43bb4e2dbdb0b7d8f6f56dfe |
| institution | Matheson Library |
| issn | 0160-4120 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environment International |
| spelling | doaj-art-6d44d1ac43bb4e2dbdb0b7d8f6f56dfe2025-07-04T04:45:56ZengElsevierEnvironment International0160-41202025-08-01202109652Pregnancy urinary phenol biomarker concentrations in relation to serum levels of inflammatory cytokines: Results from the EARTH studyXinxiu Liang0Sarah Grill1Xilin Shen2Paige L. Williams3Tamarra James-Todd4Jennifer B. Ford5Kathryn M. Rexrode6Antonia M. Calafat7Jorge E. Chavarro8Russ Hauser9Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón10Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USAChanning Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USAKey Laboratory of Reproductive Genetics (Ministry of Education) and Department of Reproductive Endocrinology, Women’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310006, China; Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USADepartments of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USADepartment of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USADepartment of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USADivision of Women’s Health, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USANational Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30341, USAChanning Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USADepartment of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USADepartments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Corresponding author at: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USABackground: Evidence on the association between maternal phenol exposure and inflammation during pregnancy is limited and inconsistent. Objective: To evaluate associations between urinary phenol biomarkers and serum inflammatory cytokines across pregnancy, and to examine whether associations vary by trimesters. Methods: We included 175 pregnant women from the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center and participating in the Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) Study (2005–2017), with available data on urinary concentrations of eight phenol biomarkers and serum inflammatory biomarkers, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Linear regression models were employed to assess the association between individual phenol biomarker concentrations and log-transformed inflammatory cytokine levels, while Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR) models were utilized to evaluate phenol biomarker mixtures. Analyses were further stratified by the trimester of sample collection. Results: Overall, detectable urinary ethylparaben was positively associated with serum hsCRP (β: 0.464; 95 % CI: 0.012, 0.917). In trimester-specific analyses, urinary butylparaben was positively associated with hsCRP (β: 0.533; 95 % CI: 0.006, 1.059) in the first trimester, but negatively associated with IL-6 (β: −0.613; 95 % CI: −1.062, −0.164) in the second trimester. Urinary bisphenol A was inversely associated with hsCRP (β: −0.428; 95 % CI: −0.731, −0.125) in the third trimester. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that exposure to certain phenols may disrupt inflammatory profiles in pregnancy, with effects varying by trimesters. These novel associations underscore the importance of exposure timing when assessing environmental risk factors for maternal and offspring health outcomes.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412025004039PhenolsPregnancyInflammation |
| spellingShingle | Xinxiu Liang Sarah Grill Xilin Shen Paige L. Williams Tamarra James-Todd Jennifer B. Ford Kathryn M. Rexrode Antonia M. Calafat Jorge E. Chavarro Russ Hauser Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón Pregnancy urinary phenol biomarker concentrations in relation to serum levels of inflammatory cytokines: Results from the EARTH study Environment International Phenols Pregnancy Inflammation |
| title | Pregnancy urinary phenol biomarker concentrations in relation to serum levels of inflammatory cytokines: Results from the EARTH study |
| title_full | Pregnancy urinary phenol biomarker concentrations in relation to serum levels of inflammatory cytokines: Results from the EARTH study |
| title_fullStr | Pregnancy urinary phenol biomarker concentrations in relation to serum levels of inflammatory cytokines: Results from the EARTH study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pregnancy urinary phenol biomarker concentrations in relation to serum levels of inflammatory cytokines: Results from the EARTH study |
| title_short | Pregnancy urinary phenol biomarker concentrations in relation to serum levels of inflammatory cytokines: Results from the EARTH study |
| title_sort | pregnancy urinary phenol biomarker concentrations in relation to serum levels of inflammatory cytokines results from the earth study |
| topic | Phenols Pregnancy Inflammation |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412025004039 |
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