IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-025-57253-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Associations of prenatal metal exposure with child neurodevelopment and mediation by perturbation of metabolic pathways

Author

Listed:
  • Ya Xie

    (Huazhong University of Science and Technology
    Ministry of Education / Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health Effects of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment)

  • Han Xiao

    (Huazhong University of Science and Technology)

  • Dejuan Zheng

    (Ministry of Education / Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health Effects of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment)

  • Gaga Mahai

    (Hainan University)

  • Yuanyuan Li

    (Huazhong University of Science and Technology
    Ministry of Education / Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health Effects of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment)

  • Wei Xia

    (Huazhong University of Science and Technology
    Ministry of Education / Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health Effects of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment)

  • Shunqing Xu

    (Huazhong University of Science and Technology
    Ministry of Education / Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health Effects of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment
    Hainan University)

  • Aifen Zhou

    (Huazhong University of Science and Technology)

Abstract

Prenatal exposure to metals has been associated with impaired neurodevelopment in children, but the detailed molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Based on the Wuhan Healthy Baby Cohort, China (N = 1088), eleven metals were measured in maternal urine during early pregnancy (13.1 ± 1.1 weeks) and metabolomics profiling was conducted in cord blood. Neurodevelopment was evaluated using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development in 2-year-old children to obtain the mental development index (MDI) and psychomotor development index (PDI). After false discovery rate correction, higher maternal urinary levels of manganese, nickel, aluminum, rubidium, gallium, and the summary score of metals were only significantly associated with lower MDI scores. The weighted quantile sum index of the metal mixture showed a significant inverse association with MDI and PDI scores, with aluminum contributing the most to the associations. Histidine, beta-alanine, purine, and pyrimidine metabolism significantly mediated the above associations, suggesting that disturbances in amino acids, neurotransmitter and neuroendocrine metabolism may be important mediators in contributing to impaired neurodevelopment of children.

Suggested Citation

  • Ya Xie & Han Xiao & Dejuan Zheng & Gaga Mahai & Yuanyuan Li & Wei Xia & Shunqing Xu & Aifen Zhou, 2025. "Associations of prenatal metal exposure with child neurodevelopment and mediation by perturbation of metabolic pathways," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-17, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-57253-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57253-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-57253-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-025-57253-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Max T. Aung & Yanyi Song & Kelly K. Ferguson & David E. Cantonwine & Lixia Zeng & Thomas F. McElrath & Subramaniam Pennathur & John D. Meeker & Bhramar Mukherjee, 2020. "Application of an analytical framework for multivariate mediation analysis of environmental data," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Sara S. Nozadi & Li Li & Li Luo & Debra MacKenzie & Esther Erdei & Ruofei Du & Carolyn W. Roman & Joseph Hoover & Elena O’Donald & Courtney Burnette & Johnnye Lewis, 2021. "Prenatal Metal Exposures and Infants’ Developmental Outcomes in a Navajo Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-24, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yanyi Song & Xiang Zhou & Jian Kang & Max T. Aung & Min Zhang & Wei Zhao & Belinda L. Needham & Sharon L. R. Kardia & Yongmei Liu & John D. Meeker & Jennifer A. Smith & Bhramar Mukherjee, 2021. "Bayesian sparse mediation analysis with targeted penalization of natural indirect effects," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 70(5), pages 1391-1412, November.
    2. Olivia J. Lindly & Davis E. Henderson & Christine B. Vining & Candi L. Running Bear & Sara S. Nozadi & Shannon Bia, 2023. "“Know Your Children, Who They Are, Their Weakness, and Their Strongest Point”: A Qualitative Study on Diné Parent Experiences Accessing Autism Services for Their Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(8), pages 1-22, April.
    3. Cai, Xizhen & Zhu, Yeying & Huang, Yuan & Ghosh, Debashis, 2022. "High-dimensional causal mediation analysis based on partial linear structural equation models," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-57253-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.