TITLE: Study Shows Impact of Antidepressants on Fetal Brain Development During Pregnancy
https://news.cuanschutz.edu/news-stories/study-shows-impact-of-antidepressants-on-fetal-brain-development-during-pregnancy
EXCERPT: A new study published in Nature Communications provides direct evidence that antidepressant use during pregnancy can impact a child’s brain development and contribute to the risk of mental health disorders later in life.
The study, led by researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, focused on the effect of fluoxetine, commonly used in medications such as Prozac and Sarafem for treating depression and perinatal depression, on a developing prefrontal cortex.
Since fluoxetine works by increasing the levels of serotonin in the brain, the researchers looked at the impact serotonin has on prefrontal cortex development in a fetus.
“While it is known that serotonin plays a role in the brain development, the mechanisms responsible for this influence, specifically in the prefrontal cortex, have been unclear. The prefrontal cortex, the most evolved brain region, plays a central role in highest-order cognition, which is why we focused our study on finding the answer from this brain area,” said lead author Won Chan Oh, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology at CU Anschutz.
Oh and his student, Roberto Ogelman, a neuroscience PhD candidate, found serotonin directly influences nascent and immature excitatory synaptic connections in the prefrontal cortex, which if disrupted or dysregulated during early development can contribute to various mental health disorders.
“Our research uncovers the specific processes at the synaptic level that explain how serotonin contributes to the development of this important brain region during early-life fluoxetine exposure,” adds Oh. “We are the first to provide experimental evidence of the direct impact of serotonin on the developing prefrontal cortex when fluoxetine is taken during pregnancy, because fluoxetine not only crosses the placenta but also passes into breast milk."
TITLE: Pregnant women should avoid fast food due to plastic contamination
https://www.newsnationnow.com/health/pregnant-women-fast-food-plastic-study/
EXCERPT: A recent study from the University of Washington School of Medicine found chemicals associated with plastics can find their way into ultra-processed and fast food from wrapping, packaging and even the gloves worn by food handlers.
The chemicals, known as phthalates, can increase the risk of autism, ADHD and preterm birth.
“When moms are exposed to this chemical, it can cross the placenta and go into fetal circulation,” senior author Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana, a UW Medicine pediatrician and researcher at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute, said in a statement.
The study included 1,031 pregnant women in their second trimester and researchers found that greater consumption of ultra-processed food was associated with a higher concentration of one of the most common and harmful phthalates.
In addition to common fast food items like cheeseburgers and french fries, researchers found cakes and pies could also present a risk.
It’s the first study in pregnant women to show that diets higher in ultra-processed foods are linked to greater phthalate exposures.
“We need to call out manufacturers and legislators to offer replacements and ones that may not be even more harmful,” said lead author Brennan Baker, a postdoctoral researcher in Sathyanarayana’s lab.
Instead of eating ultra-processed food, Sathyanarayana said pregnant women should seek out fruits, vegetables and lean meats but also keep their eye on labels.
“Look for the lower number of ingredients and make sure you can understand the ingredients,” she said.
TITLE: Alarming levels of weed killer found in study of pregnant women
https://www.thenewlede.org/2024/02/alarming-levels-of-weed-killer-found-in-study-of-pregnant-women-study-reports/
EXCERPT: Pregnant women in a key US farm state are showing increasing amounts of a toxic weed killer in their urine, a rise that comes alongside climbing use of the chemicals in agriculture, according to a new study published Friday.
The study, led by the Indiana University School of Medicine, showed that 70% of pregnant women tested in Indiana between 2020 and 2022 had an herbicide called dicamba in their urine, up from 28% from a similar analysis for the period 2010-2012 that included women in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio.
Notably, the new study found that along with a larger percentage of women showing the presence of dicamba in their bodies, the concentrations of the weed killing chemical increased more than four-fold.
The study also looked for the presence of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, better known as 2,4-D, in the urine samples, finding that 100% of the women in both the earlier study and the new one had 2,4-D in their urine, with detectable, but not significant, increases in concentration levels.
The new findings add to a growing body of literature documenting human exposure to chemicals used in agriculture, and various known and potential health impacts. Many scientists have particular concerns about how farm chemicals impact pregnant women and their children, but say more research – and more regulatory scrutiny – is needed.
“These are two chemicals we’re concerned about because of their increasing use,” said Paul Winchester, a clinical professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine who was not involved in this study. Winchester is part of a related long-term study of the outcomes for women and their offspring exposed to dicamba and 2,4-D.
Winchester called the findings “sobering” and said that there is growing evidence that these chemicals can be harmful to unborn children.
“Fetal DNA is being shaped by these exposures,” he said. “What we’re seeing in other chemicals that have had longer pathways of study is that this is not benign exposure.”
Dicamba exposure has been linked to increased risk of liver and bile duct cancer. Some animal studies of 2,4-D exposure during pregnancy found low body weights and changes in behavior in the offspring, while other studies have found that exposure to 2,4-D appears to increase the risk of lymphoma.