TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of occupational pesticide exposure on the human gut microbiome
AU - Gois, Milla F Brandao
AU - Fernández-Pato, Asier
AU - Huss, Anke
AU - Gacesa, Ranko
AU - Wijmenga, Cisca
AU - Weersma, Rinse K
AU - Fu, Jingyuan
AU - Vermeulen, Roel C H
AU - Zhernakova, Alexandra
AU - Lenters, Virissa C
AU - Kurilshikov, Alexander
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2023 Gois, Fernández-Pato, Huss, Gacesa, Wijmenga, Weersma, Fu, Vermeulen, Zhernakova, Lenters and Kurilshikov.
PY - 2023/8/10
Y1 - 2023/8/10
N2 - The rising use of pesticides in modern agriculture has led to a shift in disease burden in which exposure to these chemicals plays an increasingly important role. The human gut microbiome, which is partially responsible for the biotransformation of xenobiotics, is also known to promote biotransformation of environmental pollutants. Understanding the effects of occupational pesticide exposure on the gut microbiome can thus provide valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying the impact of pesticide exposure on health. Here we investigate the impact of occupational pesticide exposure on human gut microbiome composition in 7198 participants from the Dutch Microbiome Project of the Lifelines Study. We used job-exposure matrices in combination with occupational codes to retrieve categorical and cumulative estimates of occupational exposures to general pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and fungicides. Approximately 4% of our cohort was occupationally exposed to at least one class of pesticides, with predominant exposure to multiple pesticide classes. Most participants reported long-term employment, suggesting a cumulative profile of exposure. We demonstrate that contact with insecticides, fungicides and a general "all pesticides" class was consistently associated with changes in the gut microbiome, showing significant associations with decreased alpha diversity and a differing beta diversity. We also report changes in the abundance of 39 different bacterial taxa upon exposure to the different pesticide classes included in this study. Together, the extent of statistically relevant associations between gut microbial changes and pesticide exposure in our findings highlights the impact of these compounds on the human gut microbiome.
AB - The rising use of pesticides in modern agriculture has led to a shift in disease burden in which exposure to these chemicals plays an increasingly important role. The human gut microbiome, which is partially responsible for the biotransformation of xenobiotics, is also known to promote biotransformation of environmental pollutants. Understanding the effects of occupational pesticide exposure on the gut microbiome can thus provide valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying the impact of pesticide exposure on health. Here we investigate the impact of occupational pesticide exposure on human gut microbiome composition in 7198 participants from the Dutch Microbiome Project of the Lifelines Study. We used job-exposure matrices in combination with occupational codes to retrieve categorical and cumulative estimates of occupational exposures to general pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and fungicides. Approximately 4% of our cohort was occupationally exposed to at least one class of pesticides, with predominant exposure to multiple pesticide classes. Most participants reported long-term employment, suggesting a cumulative profile of exposure. We demonstrate that contact with insecticides, fungicides and a general "all pesticides" class was consistently associated with changes in the gut microbiome, showing significant associations with decreased alpha diversity and a differing beta diversity. We also report changes in the abundance of 39 different bacterial taxa upon exposure to the different pesticide classes included in this study. Together, the extent of statistically relevant associations between gut microbial changes and pesticide exposure in our findings highlights the impact of these compounds on the human gut microbiome.
KW - gut microbiome
KW - pesticide exposure
KW - exposome
KW - occupational exposure
KW - microbiome
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85168662453&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1223120
DO - 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1223120
M3 - Article
C2 - 37637104
SN - 1664-302X
VL - 14
JO - Frontiers in Microbiology
JF - Frontiers in Microbiology
M1 - 1223120
ER -