title: Associations between Blood and Urine Arsenic Concentrations and Global Levels of Post-Translational Histone Modifications in Bangladeshi Men and Women.
abstract: Exposure to inorganic arsenic is associated with numerous adverse health outcomes, with susceptibility differing by sex. Although evidence from in vitro studies suggests that arsenic alters post-translational histone modifications (PTHMs), evidence in humans is limited.
  
  
  
  The objectives were to determine: a) if arsenic exposure is associated with global (percent) levels of PTHMs H3K36me2, H3K36me3, and H3K79me2 in a sex-dependent manner, and b) if %PTHMs are stable when arsenic exposure is reduced.
  
  
  
  We examined associations between arsenic, measured in blood and urine, and %PTHMs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 317 participants enrolled in the Bangladesh Folic Acid and Creatine Trial (FACT). We also examined the stability of %PTHMs after the use of arsenic-removal water filters (n = 60).
  
  
  
  Associations between natural log-transformed (ln) urinary arsenic, adjusted for creatinine (uAsCr), and %H3K36me2 differed significantly between men and women (p = 0.01). ln(uAsCr) was positively associated with %H3K36me2 in men [β = 0.12; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.01, 0.23, p = 0.03] but was negatively associated with %H3K36me2 in women (β = -0.05; 95% CI: -0.12, 0.02, p = 0.19). The patterns of associations with blood arsenic were similar. On average, water filter use was also associated with reductions in %H3K36me2 (p < 0.01), but this did not differ significantly by sex. Arsenic was not significantly associated with %H3K36me3 or %H3K79me2 in men or women.
  
  
  
  Arsenic exposure was associated with %H3K36me2 in a sex-specific manner but was not associated with %H3K36me3 or %H3K79me2. Additional studies are needed to assess changes in %H3K36me2 after arsenic removal.
  
  
  
  Howe CG, Liu X, Hall MN, Slavkovich V, Ilievski V, Parvez F, Siddique AB, Shahriar H, Uddin MN, Islam T, Graziano JH, Costa M, Gamble MV. 2016. Associations between blood and urine arsenic concentrations and global levels of post-translational histone modifications in Bangladeshi men and women. Environ Health Perspect 124:1234-1240; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510412.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Caitlin G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Howe
authors.forename: Xinhua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Megan N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: Vesna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Slavkovich
authors.forename: Vesna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ilievski
authors.forename: Faruque
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Parvez
authors.forename: Abu B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Siddique
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shahriar
authors.forename: Mohammad N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Uddin
authors.forename: Tariqul
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.forename: Joseph H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Graziano
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Mary V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Gamble
mesh_terms: D001151:Arsenic / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000652:urine; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D001151:Arsenic