Effects of Lifetime Exposures to Environmental Contaminants on the Adult Gut Microbiome

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

  • Kelsey N. Thompson
  • Youssef Oulhote
  • Pal Weihe
  • Jeremy E. Wilkinson
  • Siyuan Ma
  • Huanzi Zhong
  • Junhua Li
  • Kristiansen, Karsten
  • Curtis Huttenhower
  • Philippe Grandjean

Emerging experimental evidence indicates that toxicant-induced alterations in gut microbiota composition and activity may affect host homeostasis. However, data from human studies are scarce; to our knowledge, no previous studies have quantified the association of lifetime exposure to environmental chemicals, across multiple time points, with the composition of the adult gut microbiome. Here we studied 124 individuals born in the Faroe Islands in 1986-1987 who were followed approximately every seven years from birth through age 28 years. Organochlorine compounds, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and pesticides, perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and mercury (Hg), were measured in cord blood and longitudinally in participants' blood. At age 28, the gut microbiome was assessed using shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Historical contaminant exposures had little direct effect on the adult gut microbiome, while a small number of fastidious anaerobes were weakly linked to recent PFAS/ PFOS exposures at age 28. In this cohort, our findings suggest no lasting effects of early life exposures on adult gut microbial composition, but proximal exposures may contribute to gut microbiome alterations. The methods developed and used for this investigation may help in future identification of small but lasting impacts of environmental toxicant exposure on the gut microbiome.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEnvironmental Science & Technology
Volume56
Issue number23
Pages (from-to)16985-16995
Number of pages11
ISSN0013-936X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

    Research areas

  • gut microbiome, early life exposure, NEUROBEHAVIORAL DEFICITS, METHYLMERCURIC CHLORIDE, MERCURY, METABOLISM, HEALTH, CHAIN

ID: 329572441