Human milk EV-miRNAs: a novel biomarker for air pollution exposure during pregnancy

Exposure to ambient and near-roadway air pollution during pregnancy has been linked with several adverse health outcomes for pregnant women and their babies. Emerging research indicates that microRNA (miRNA) expression can be altered by exposure to air pollutants in a variety of tissues. Additionally, miRNAs from breast tissue and circulating miRNAs have previously been proposed as a biomarker for breast cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Therefore, this study sought to evaluate the associations between pregnancy exposures to ambient (PM₁₀, PM_2.5, NO₂, O₃) and near-roadway air pollution (total NO_x, freeway NO_x, non-freeway NO_x) with breast milk extracellular vesicle miRNA (EV-miRNA), measured at 1-month postpartum, in a cohort of 108 Latina women living in Southern California. We found that PM₁₀ exposure during pregnancy was positively associated with hsa-miR-200c-3p, hsa-miR-200b-3p, and hsa-let-7c-5p, and was negatively associated with hsa-miR-378d. We also found that pregnancy PM_2.5 exposure was positively associated with hsa-miR-200c-3p and hsa-miR-200b-3p. First and second trimester exposure to PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 was associated with several EV-miRNAs with putative messenger RNA targets related to cancer. This study provides preliminary evidence that air pollution exposure during pregnancy is associated with human milk EV-miRNA expression.