ArticleEnvironmental research2025
Sex-specific effects of in utero exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances on placental development.
Article in Environmental research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Stress-activated pathways mediate PFAS effects on human placental syncytiotrophoblast cells.Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology · 2026Article
- The Placenta as a Target Organ for Poly- and Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs): Molecular Mechanisms of Toxicity.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Sex-dependent relationships between PFAS and placental transcriptomics identified by weighted gene co-expression analysis.Environmental research · 2025Article
- Placental Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Levels Are Associated with Spontaneous Preterm Birth.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Sex-specific associations between per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance exposure and epigenetic age: Findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination survey 1999-2000.Environmental research · 2025Article
- MoB QDs/N, F-CDs for ratiometric fluorescence sensing of perfluorooctanoic acid based on fluorine‑fluorine interaction.Mikrochimica acta · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent organic pollutants that may impact placental function, and potentially gestational age acceleration (GAA), a deviation from reported and predicted gestational age. GAA potentially represents differences in cell maturation in response to a challenging environment.
objectiveThis study aimed to characterize the effects of individual and mixtures of PFAS on GAA, cell composition, birth length, and birthweight.
methodsPregnant peoples were recruited from around Little Rock, Arkansas, United States between 2011 and 2014. We utilized placental DNA methylation profiles of 153 healthy pregnancies to calculate GAA and estimate the proportions of six placental cell types. PFAS were quantified in homogenized placental tissue using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Five PFAS were detected in over 70% of samples. We studied these five PFAS individually using multiple linear regression and as a mixture using quantile g-computation, while adjusting for confounders. The dependent variables in our models included GAA, cell proportions, birthweight, and birth length.
resultsWe did not observe associations between PFAS and any of our outcomes in our primary models. While GAA in male placentas were not significantly affected by PFAS, the PFAS mixture associated with decreased syncytiotrophoblast proportion (Ψ = -0.018, 95% CI [-0.032, -0.004]). PFAS mixture did not alter cell proportions in female placentas but was associated with increased GAA (Ψ = 0.269, 95% CI [0.026, 0.513]). Similarly, for females, greater GAA was associated with PFOA (β = 0.141, 95% CI [-0.016,0.040]) and PFOS (β = 0.205, 95% CI [-0.020,0.0416]). DISCUSSION: We illustrate that PFAS may influence placental development in a sex specific manner. Suggested by decrease in syncytotrophoblast, male placenta may experience a more stunted development due to PFAS exposure. Alternatively, female placentas exhibited increased GAA, a plausible marker of elevated developmental maturation in the face of environmental adversity.
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