Field Experience: Use of the Human Placenta As a Biomarker for Environmental Exposures, Epigenetic, and Morphological Assessments in the National Children's Study (original) (raw)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction: The National Children's Study (NCS) will recruit and follow a cohort of 100,000 United States children from before birth until age 21. The goal is to improve the health and well-being of children and contribute to understanding the role that many factors have on health and disease. The focus of this research is to develop methods for procuring, preserving, and processing the placenta upon delivery to evaluate the importance of examining the placenta for identifying relationships and establishing biomarkers to determine in utero genetic, environmental, and morphological contributions to childhood and adult diseases. By assessing the placenta and its architecture, vascularization, genetics, epigenetics, and environmental exposures, our understanding of prenatal contributors to child health will be realized. Methods: A pilot study was conducted to establish collection techniques, the equipment/supplies required, and analyze placental specimens acquired at different times post delivery. The field study was initiated 10/2011 based upon results of the pilot. Field sites are in Orange County, CA; Queens, NY; Montgomery County, PA; Lincoln County, MN; Yellow Medicine County, MN; Pipestone County, MN; Brookings County, SD; Duplin County, NC; Waukesha County, WI; Salt Lake County, UT; Cache County, UT. Extensive training of birth coordinators, development of a logistical support systems for collections in the field, and shipping specimens to the Placental Processing Center (PPC) for evaluation were conducted via WEB EX teleconferencing. Results: To date, approximately 100 placentae were collected/shipped to the PPC for genetic, environmental, and morphological assessments with a mean site collection time following delivery of 55+30 min (range 9min-24hr) at the widely diverse 10 county collection sites. Coupled with mother's and child's clinical histories using special coding to assure subject anonymity, novel techniques were developed for specimen collection, storage, and analysis to preserve specimen integrity for morphologic, genetic/epigenetic, and environmental exposures. Discussion: It is possible to collect, process, and analyze for morphological, genetic, and environmental analytes in placentae from multiple sites, as well as assure tissue is available for state of the art analyses of biomarkers for current and future health risk assessments.

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