Prenatal Lead Exposure Is Associated with Reduced Abundance of Beneficial Gut Microbial Cliques in Late Childhood: An Investigation Using Microbial Co-Occurrence Analysis (MiCA)

Vishal Midya; Jamil M Lane; Chris Gennings; Libni A Torres-Olascoaga; Jill K Gregory; Robert O Wright; Manish Arora; Martha Maria Téllez-Rojo; Shoshannah Eggers

doi:10.1021/acs.est.3c04346

Back

Prenatal Lead Exposure Is Associated with Reduced Abundance of Beneficial Gut Microbial Cliques in Late Childhood: An Investigation Using Microbial Co-Occurrence Analysis (MiCA)

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Prenatal Lead Exposure Is Associated with Reduced Abundance of Beneficial Gut Microbial Cliques in Late Childhood: An Investigation Using Microbial Co-Occurrence Analysis (MiCA)

Vishal Midya, Jamil M Lane, Chris Gennings, Libni A Torres-Olascoaga, Jill K Gregory, Robert O Wright, Manish Arora, Martha Maria Téllez-Rojo and Shoshannah Eggers

Environmental science & technology, Vol.57(44), pp.16800-16810

11/07/2023

DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c04346

PMCID: PMC10634322

PMID: 37878664

Files and links (1)

url

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c04346View

Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Many analytical methods used in gut microbiome research focus on either single bacterial taxa or the whole microbiome, ignoring multibacteria relationships (microbial cliques). We present a novel analytical approach to identify microbial cliques within the gut microbiome of children at 9–11 years associated with prenatal lead (Pb) exposure. Data came from a subset of participants (n = 123) in the Programming Research in Obesity, Growth, Environment and Social Stressors cohort. Pb concentrations were measured in maternal whole blood from the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Stool samples collected at 9–11 years old underwent metagenomic sequencing to assess the gut microbiome. Using a novel analytical approach, Microbial Co-occurrence Analysis (MiCA), we paired a machine learning algorithm with randomization-based inference to first identify microbial cliques that were predictive of prenatal Pb exposure and then estimate the association between prenatal Pb exposure and microbial clique abundance. With second-trimester Pb exposure, we identified a two-taxa microbial clique that included Bifidobacterium adolescentis and Ruminococcus callidus and a three-taxa clique that also included Prevotella clara. Increasing second-trimester Pb exposure was associated with significantly increased odds of having the two-taxa microbial clique below the median relative abundance (odds ratio (OR) = 1.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.01–1.05]). Using a novel combination of machine learning and causal inference, MiCA identified a significant association between second-trimester Pb exposure and the reduced abundance of a probiotic microbial clique within the gut microbiome in late childhood.

Details

Title: Subtitle: Prenatal Lead Exposure Is Associated with Reduced Abundance of Beneficial Gut Microbial Cliques in Late Childhood: An Investigation Using Microbial Co-Occurrence Analysis (MiCA)
Creators: Vishal Midya - Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Jamil M Lane - Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Chris Gennings - Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Libni A Torres-Olascoaga - Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública
Jill K Gregory - Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Robert O Wright - Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Manish Arora - Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Martha Maria Téllez-Rojo
Shoshannah Eggers - Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Environmental science & technology, Vol.57(44), pp.16800-16810
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c04346
PMID: 37878664
PMCID: PMC10634322
NLM abbreviation: Environ Sci Technol
ISSN: 0013-936X
eISSN: 1520-5851
Grant note: DOI: 10.13039/100000066, name: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, award: K99ES032884, P30ES023515, R01ES013744, R35ES030435
Language: English
Electronic publication date: 10/25/2023
Date published: 11/07/2023
Academic Unit: Epidemiology; Injury Prevention Research Center
Record Identifier: 9984501660302771

Metrics

72 Record Views

15 Times Cited - Web of Science