Ou Chuyi, Wu Weixiang, Du Bibai, Liu Di, Yang Jun, Luo Dan
School of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 511436, China.
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Women and Children's Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology, Guangzhou, 511400, China.
Environ Pollut. 2025 Oct 1;382:126715. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2025.126715. Epub 2025 Jun 20.
Metal(loid)s are widespread in the environment, and closely linked to adverse birth outcomes. However, evidence linking exposure to metal(loid) mixtures to neonatal growth is limited and the effects of multiple metal(loid)s on hormones in the growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis remain unclear. This study aimed to explore the relationships between in utero exposure to metal(loid) mixtures and neonatal birth size and GH, IGF-1, and IGF-binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3) within the GH/IGF axis. We assessed 16 metal(loid) levels in umbilical cord blood collected from 224 newborns in Guangzhou, China, and retrieved their anthropometric data from medical records. Multiple linear regression (MLR) models were employed to assess the effects of single-metal(loid) exposure. Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) and Quantile g-computation (Qgcomp) models were utilized to examine the joint effects of metal(loid) mixtures. We observed that exposure to arsenic (As) and mercury (Hg) exhibited a significantly negative correlation with neonatal birth weight in MLR models. Each ln-unit increase in As and Hg reduced birth weight by 59.52 g (95 % CI: -101.71, -17.33) and 91.69 g (95 % CI: -146.21, -37.17), respectively. In addition, selenium (Se) was significantly positively correlated with IGFBP-3. With each ln-unit increase in Se, the levels of IGFBP-3 increased by 41.77 % (95 % CI: 24.76 %, 61.10 %). The associations of As and Hg with birth weight, and Se with IGFBP-3 levels remained statistically significant in the BKMR model, when other metal(loid)s were held at their 25th to 75th percentiles. Furthermore, both the BKMR and Qgcomp models demonstrated a significantly inverse combined effect of 16 metal(loid)s on neonatal birth weight and ponderal index, along with a positive association between metal(loid)s exposure and IGFBP-3 levels. These findings provide substantial evidence for both the individual and joint effects of various metal(loid)s on neonatal birth size and hormones in the GH/IGF axis.
金属（类金属）在环境中广泛存在，且与不良出生结局密切相关。然而，将金属（类金属）混合物暴露与新生儿生长联系起来的证据有限，多种金属（类金属）对生长激素（GH）/胰岛素样生长因子（IGF）轴中激素的影响仍不清楚。本研究旨在探讨子宫内暴露于金属（类金属）混合物与新生儿出生大小以及GH/IGF轴内的GH、IGF-1和IGF结合蛋白3（IGFBP-3）之间的关系。我们评估了从中国广州224名新生儿采集的脐带血中16种金属（类金属）的水平，并从医疗记录中获取了他们的人体测量数据。采用多元线性回归（MLR）模型评估单一金属（类金属）暴露的影响。利用贝叶斯核机器回归（BKMR）和分位数g计算（Qgcomp）模型来检验金属（类金属）混合物的联合效应。我们观察到，在MLR模型中，砷（As）和汞（Hg）暴露与新生儿出生体重呈显著负相关。As和Hg每增加一个自然对数单位，出生体重分别降低59.52 g（95%置信区间：-101.71，-17.33）和91.69 g（95%置信区间：-146.21，-37.17）。此外，硒（Se）与IGFBP-3呈显著正相关。Se每增加一个自然对数单位，IGFBP-3水平增加41.77%（95%置信区间：24.76%，61.10%）。当其他金属（类金属）保持在其第25至75百分位数时，在BKMR模型中，As和Hg与出生体重以及Se与IGFBP-3水平之间的关联在统计学上仍显著。此外，BKMR和Qgcomp模型均显示，16种金属（类金属）对新生儿出生体重和 ponderal指数具有显著的反向联合效应，以及金属（类金属）暴露与IGFBP-3水平之间存在正相关。这些发现为各种金属（类金属）对新生儿出生大小和GH/IGF轴中激素的个体和联合效应提供了大量证据。
