Household Air Pollution Exposure And Mitochondrial Dna Copy Number In Cord Blood: Identifying Sensitive Windows And Sex-Specific Effects

Rationale: Household air pollution (HAP) exposure during sensitive windows of development, beginning in utero, may program future disease risk through oxidative stress (OS) pathways. Mitochondria may respond to OS by increasing DNA copy number (mtDNAcn), however when compensatory mechanisms are overwhelmed mtDNAcn may be decreased. Prior studies suggest that females may be more adaptive to in utero OS. Methods: The Ghana Randomized Air Pollution and Health Study (GRAPHS) recruited nonsmoking pregnant women and randomized them to one of two cookstove interventions or control. Four, 72-hour carbon monoxide (CO) personal air pollution exposure measurements were performed over pregnancy and interpolated to estimate weekly prenatal CO exposure across pregnancy. Venous umbilical cord blood was collected, cord blood mononuclear cells isolated, and DNA extracted in 164 …