Researchers from Inserm, CNRS and Université Grenoble Alpes have analyzed the consequences of exposure to air pollution during pregnancy, and associated this pollution with a risk for fetal health. and for the child. The mechanisms explaining an effect of air pollutants on the development of the fetus and the child could go through an alteration of the placenta.
According to several studies, exposure to air pollution is associated to preeclampsia in pregnant women (hypertension associated with the presence of protein in the urine), a decreased birth weight in children and perhaps even impaired functioning of the lungs and neurodevelopmental disorders.
In question, exposure to exhaust gases
To find out more, the researchers recruited 668 pregnant women between 2003 and 2006 in the university hospitals of Nancy and Poitiers. They observed that the mothers most exposed to nitrogen dioxide (gas from automotive, industrial and thermal combustion processes) during their pregnancy presented an epigenetic modification on the ADORA2B gene. “Defects in the expression of this gene have been associated in other studies with preeclampsia, a common and serious condition of pregnancy if left untreated.” explains Johanna Lepeule, Inserm researcher.
The results of this study thus confirm part of the hypothesis according to which prenatal exposure to air pollutants, at levels commonly found in Europe and France, could have harmful effects on the health of pregnant women and the unborn child.
These results were published in the journal Environment International.
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