Impact of exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances on fecal microbiota composition in mother-infant dyads

Santosh Lamichhane; Taina Härkönen; Tommi Vatanen; Tuulia Hyötyläinen; Mikael Knip; Matej Orešič

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2023.107965

Impact of exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances on fecal microbiota composition in mother-infant dyads

Environ Int. 2023 Jun:176:107965. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.107965. Epub 2023 May 11.

Authors

Santosh Lamichhane¹, Taina Härkönen², Tommi Vatanen³, Tuulia Hyötyläinen⁴, Mikael Knip⁵, Matej Orešič⁶

Affiliations

¹ Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, 20520 Turku, Finland. Electronic address: santosh.lamichhane@utu.fi.
² Research Program for Clinical and Molecular Metabolism, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland.
³ Research Program for Clinical and Molecular Metabolism, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
⁴ School of Science and Technology, Örebro University, 702 81 Örebro, Sweden.
⁵ Research Program for Clinical and Molecular Metabolism, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland; Tampere University Hospital, Department of Paediatrics, Tampere, Finland.
⁶ Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, 20520 Turku, Finland; School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, 702 81 Örebro, Sweden.

PMID: 37210808
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.107965

Abstract

There is growing evidence suggesting that chemical exposure alters gut microbiota composition. However, not much is known about the impact of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on the gut microbial community. Here, in a mother-infant study, we set out to identify the gut bacterial species that associate with chemical exposure before (maternal) and after (maternal, infant) birth. Paired serum and stool samples were collected from mother-infant dyads (n = 30) in a longitudinal setting. PFAS were quantified in maternal serum to examine their associations with the microbial compositions (determined by shotgun metagenomic sequencing) in mothers and infants. High maternal exposure to PFAS was consistently associated with increased abundance of Methanobrevibacter smithii in maternal stool. Among individual PFAS compounds, PFOS and PFHpS showed the strongest association with M. smithii. However, maternal total PFAS exposure associated only weakly with the infant microbiome. Our findings suggest that PFAS exposure affects the composition of the adult gut microbiome.

Keywords: Gut microbiome; Metabolomics; PFAS.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Alkanesulfonic Acids*
Bacteria / genetics
Environmental Pollutants*
Female
Fluorocarbons* / toxicity
Humans
Infant
Maternal Exposure
Microbiota*
Mothers

Substances

Fluorocarbons
Environmental Pollutants
Alkanesulfonic Acids

Grants and funding

DP3 DK094338/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/United States