IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v22y2025i10p1494-d1759768.html

Early-Life Exposure to Organic Chemical Pollutants as Assessed in Primary Teeth and Cardiometabolic Risk in Mexican American Children: A Pilot Study

Author

Listed:
  • Vidya S. Farook

    (Division of Human Genetics, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX 78520, USA
    Deceased.
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Feroz Akhtar

    (Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Rector Arya

    (Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA)

  • Alice Yau

    (Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78238, USA)

  • Srinivas Mummidi

    (Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA)

  • Juan C. Lopez-Alvarenga

    (Division of Population Health and Biostatistics, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Harlingen, TX 78550, USA)

  • Alvaro Diaz-Badillo

    (Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA)

  • Roy Resendez

    (Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA)

  • Sharon P. Fowler

    (Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA)

  • Hemant Kulkarni

    (Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA)

  • Vijay Golla

    (School of Public Health-San Antonio Campus, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA)

  • Mahua Choudhury

    (Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA)

  • Jane L. Lynch

    (Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA)

  • Donna M. Lehman

    (Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA)

  • Daniel E. Hale

    (Department of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Penn State University, Hershey, PA 17033, USA)

  • Ralph A. DeFronzo

    (Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA)

  • John Blangero

    (Division of Human Genetics, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX 78520, USA)

  • David E. Camann

    (Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78238, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Ravindranath Duggirala

    (Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Suman N. Challa

    (Department of Comprehensive Dentistry, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

Early-life exposure to organic chemicals (OCs) may influence childhood obesity and associated cardiometabolic risk. These conditions have been shown to disproportionately affect minority populations such as Mexican Americans (MAs). However, information on the impact of organic chemicals on cardiometabolic risk in MA children is limited. Therefore, we conducted a pilot study to assess the extent to which exposure to organic chemicals influences cardiometabolic traits (CMTs) in MA children. We recalled 25 children from a previous study and collected 25 primary teeth from them. Chemical analyses of the teeth were performed using established protocols. Target analytes included acetaminophen (APAP); 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCPy), 2-isopropyl-6-methyl-4-pyrimidinol (IMPy), diethyl phosphate (DEP), N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET), tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBOEP), monoethyl phthalate (MEP), mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP), monoisobutyl phthalate (MiBP), monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP), mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl) phthalate (MECPP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP), and mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP). The organic chemicals most frequently detected in the teeth were APAP; the insect repellent DEET; plasticizers MnBP and MiBP; and the plasticizer-derived metabolite MEHP. These five analytes were included in association analyses with selected CMTs. After adjusting for covariate (age, sex, tooth-type) effects, we found significant ( p < 0.05) positive correlations between MiBP and the following CMTs: fat mass, fasting insulin, and the homeostasis model of assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Both MnBP and MEHP exhibited negative correlation with blood pressure measures and triglycerides, respectively. In addition, APAP showed a strong negative correlation with HDL-C ( p = 0.009) and positive association with triglycerides ( p < 0.10). These findings suggest a potential role for early-life exposures to organic chemicals in influencing cardiometabolic risk in MA children.

Suggested Citation

  • Vidya S. Farook & Feroz Akhtar & Rector Arya & Alice Yau & Srinivas Mummidi & Juan C. Lopez-Alvarenga & Alvaro Diaz-Badillo & Roy Resendez & Sharon P. Fowler & Hemant Kulkarni & Vijay Golla & Mahua Ch, 2025. "Early-Life Exposure to Organic Chemical Pollutants as Assessed in Primary Teeth and Cardiometabolic Risk in Mexican American Children: A Pilot Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 22(10), pages 1-16, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:10:p:1494-:d:1759768
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/10/1494/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/10/1494/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Adam E. Locke & Bratati Kahali & Sonja I. Berndt & Anne E. Justice & Tune H. Pers & Felix R. Day & Corey Powell & Sailaja Vedantam & Martin L. Buchkovich & Jian Yang & Damien C. Croteau-Chonka & Tonu , 2015. "Genetic studies of body mass index yield new insights for obesity biology," Nature, Nature, vol. 518(7538), pages 197-206, February.
    2. Teri A. Manolio & Francis S. Collins & Nancy J. Cox & David B. Goldstein & Lucia A. Hindorff & David J. Hunter & Mark I. McCarthy & Erin M. Ramos & Lon R. Cardon & Aravinda Chakravarti & Judy H. Cho &, 2009. "Finding the missing heritability of complex diseases," Nature, Nature, vol. 461(7265), pages 747-753, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jacob Joseph & Chang Liu & Qin Hui & Krishna Aragam & Zeyuan Wang & Brian Charest & Jennifer E. Huffman & Jacob M. Keaton & Todd L. Edwards & Serkalem Demissie & Luc Djousse & Juan P. Casas & J. Micha, 2022. "Genetic architecture of heart failure with preserved versus reduced ejection fraction," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Hélène Tonnelé & Denghui Chen & Felipe Morillo & Jorge Garcia-Calleja & Apurva S. Chitre & Benjamin B. Johnson & Thiago Missfeldt Sanches & Riyan Cheng & Marc Jan Bonder & Antonio Gonzalez & Tomasz Ko, 2025. "Genetic architecture and mechanisms of host-microbiome interactions from a multi-cohort analysis of outbred laboratory rats," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Lili Liu & Atlas Khan & Elena Sanchez-Rodriguez & Francesca Zanoni & Yifu Li & Nicholas Steers & Olivia Balderes & Junying Zhang & Priya Krithivasan & Robert A. LeDesma & Clara Fischman & Scott J. Heb, 2022. "Genetic regulation of serum IgA levels and susceptibility to common immune, infectious, kidney, and cardio-metabolic traits," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, December.
    4. repec:plo:pgen00:1003258 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Ilias Georgakopoulos-Soares & Chengyu Deng & Vikram Agarwal & Candace S. Y. Chan & Jingjing Zhao & Fumitaka Inoue & Nadav Ahituv, 2023. "Transcription factor binding site orientation and order are major drivers of gene regulatory activity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Meida Wang & Shuanglin Zhang & Qiuying Sha, 2022. "A computationally efficient clustering linear combination approach to jointly analyze multiple phenotypes for GWAS," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(4), pages 1-13, April.
    7. repec:plo:pone00:0083057 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Brooke C. Wilson & Michele Zuppi & José G. B. Derraik & Benjamin B. Albert & Ry Y. Tweedie-Cullen & Karen S. W. Leong & Kathryn L. Beck & Tommi Vatanen & Justin M. O’Sullivan & Wayne S. Cutfield, 2025. "Long-term health outcomes in adolescents with obesity treated with faecal microbiota transplantation: 4-year follow-up," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, December.
    9. Shaan Khurshid & Julieta Lazarte & James P. Pirruccello & Lu-Chen Weng & Seung Hoan Choi & Amelia W. Hall & Xin Wang & Samuel F. Friedman & Victor Nauffal & Kiran J. Biddinger & Krishna G. Aragam & Pu, 2023. "Clinical and genetic associations of deep learning-derived cardiac magnetic resonance-based left ventricular mass," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    10. Dixon, Padraig & Hollingworth, William & Harrison, Sean & Davies, Neil M. & Davey Smith, George, 2020. "Mendelian Randomization analysis of the causal effect of adiposity on hospital costs," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    11. Cecilia Pessoa Rodrigues & Aindrila Chatterjee & Meike Wiese & Thomas Stehle & Witold Szymanski & Maria Shvedunova & Asifa Akhtar, 2021. "Histone H4 lysine 16 acetylation controls central carbon metabolism and diet-induced obesity in mice," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, December.
    12. Jordi Manuello & Joosung Min & Paul McCarthy & Fidel Alfaro-Almagro & Soojin Lee & Stephen Smith & Lloyd T. Elliott & Anderson M. Winkler & Gwenaëlle Douaud, 2024. "The effects of genetic and modifiable risk factors on brain regions vulnerable to ageing and disease," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    13. repec:plo:pone00:0070774 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Yi Huang & Anyongqi Wang & Wenjiang Zhou & Baoguo Li & Linshan Zhang & Agata M. Rudolf & Zengguang Jin & Catherine Hambly & Guanlin Wang & John R. Speakman, 2024. "Maternal dietary fat during lactation shapes single nucleus transcriptomic profile of postnatal offspring hypothalamus in a sexually dimorphic manner in mice," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    15. Lin Yuan & Chang-An Yuan & De-Shuang Huang, 2017. "FAACOSE: A Fast Adaptive Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm for Detecting SNP Epistasis," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2017, pages 1-10, September.
    16. Lap Sum Chan & Gen Li & Eric B. Fauman & Xianyong Yin & Markku Laakso & Michael Boehnke & Peter X. K. Song, 2025. "DrFARM: identification of pleiotropic genetic variants in genome-wide association studies," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-14, December.
    17. Chang Lu & Jan Zaucha & Rihab Gam & Hai Fang & Smithers & Matt E. Oates & Miguel Bernabe-Rubio & James Williams & Natalie Zelenka & Arun Prasad Pandurangan & Himani Tandon & Hashem Shihab & Raju Kalai, 2023. "Hypothesis-free phenotype prediction within a genetics-first framework," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    18. Hannah Oppenheimer & Dennis van der Meer & Louise S. Schindler & Arielle Crestol & Alexey Shadrin & Ole A. Andreassen & Lars T. Westlye & Ann-Marie G. de Lange & Claudia Barth, 2025. "No causal links between estradiol and female’s brain and mental health using Mendelian randomization," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-13, December.
    19. Ian Barnett & Rajarshi Mukherjee & Xihong Lin, 2017. "The Generalized Higher Criticism for Testing SNP-Set Effects in Genetic Association Studies," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 112(517), pages 64-76, January.
    20. Wei Zhao & Erin B. Ware & Zihuai He & Sharon L. R. Kardia & Jessica D. Faul & Jennifer A. Smith, 2017. "Interaction between Social/Psychosocial Factors and Genetic Variants on Body Mass Index: A Gene-Environment Interaction Analysis in a Longitudinal Setting," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-17, September.
    21. repec:plo:pone00:0118701 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Jie Huang & Jennifer E. Huffman & Yunfeng Huang & Ítalo Valle & Themistocles L. Assimes & Sridharan Raghavan & Benjamin F. Voight & Chang Liu & Albert-László Barabási & Rose D. L. Huang & Qin Hui & Xu, 2022. "Genomics and phenomics of body mass index reveals a complex disease network," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    23. Kristina M. Garske & Asha Kar & Caroline Comenho & Brunilda Balliu & David Z. Pan & Yash V. Bhagat & Gregory Rosenberg & Amogha Koka & Sankha Subhra Das & Zong Miao & Janet S. Sinsheimer & Jaakko Kapr, 2023. "Increased body mass index is linked to systemic inflammation through altered chromatin co-accessibility in human preadipocytes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-16, December.
    24. Sheng Wang & Hyunseung Kang, 2022. "Weak‐instrument robust tests in two‐sample summary‐data Mendelian randomization," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 78(4), pages 1699-1713, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:10:p:1494-:d:1759768. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.