Oxidative stress as a potential mechanism linking gestational phthalates exposure to cognitive development in infancy

Gestational exposure to phthalates, endocrine disrupting chemicals widely used in consumer products, has been associated with poor recognition memory in infancy. Oxidative stress may represent one pathway linking this association. Hence, we examined whether exposure to phthalates was associated with elevated oxidative stress during pregnancy, and whether oxidative stress mediates the relationship between phthalate exposure and recognition memory.

Our analysis included a subset of mother-child pairs enrolled in the Illinois Kids Development Study (IKIDS, N = 225, recruitment years 2013-2018). Concentrations of 12 phthalate metabolites were quantified in 2nd trimester urine samples. Four oxidative stress biomarkers (8-isoprostane-PGF_2α, 2,3-dinor-5,6-dihydro-8-isoPGF_2α, 2,3-dinor-8-isoPGF_2α, and prostaglandin-F_2α) were measured in 2nd and 3rd trimester urine. Recognition memory was evaluated at 7.5 months, with looking times to familiar and novel stimuli recorded via infrared eye-tracking. Novelty preference (proportion of time looking at a novel stimulus when paired with a familiar one) was considered a measure of recognition memory. Linear mixed effect models were used to estimate associations between monoethyl phthalate (MEP), sum of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate metabolites (ΣDEHP), sum of di(isononyl) phthalate metabolites (ΣDINP), and sum of anti-androgenic phthalate metabolites (ΣAA) and oxidative stress biomarkers. Mediation analysis was performed to assess whether oxidative stress biomarkers mediated the effect of gestational phthalate exposure on novelty preference.

The average maternal age at delivery was 31 years and approximately 50 % of participants had a graduate degree. A natural log unit increase in ΣAA, ΣDINP, and ΣDEHP was associated with a statistically significant increase in 8-isoPGF_2α, 2,3-dinor-5,6-dihydro-8-isoPGF_2α, and 2,3-dinor-8-isoPGF_2α. The association was greatest in magnitude for ΣAA and 2,3-dinor-5,6-dihydro-8-isoPGF_2α (β = 0.45, 95 % confidence interval = 0.14, 0.76). The relationship between ΣAA, ΣDINP, ΣDEHP, and novelty preference was partially mediated by 2,3-dinor-8-isoPGF_2α.

Gestational exposure to some phthalates is positively associated with oxidative stress biomarkers, highlighting one mechanistic pathway through which these chemicals may impair early cognitive development.