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The Importance of the Biological Impact of Exposure to the Concept of the Exposome

BACKGROUND: The term “exposome” was originally coined in 2005 and defined as the totality of exposures throughout the lifetime. The exposome provides an excellent scientific framework for studying human health and disease. Recently, it has been suggested that how exposures affect our biology and how...

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Autores principales: Dennis, Kristine K., Auerbach, Scott S., Balshaw, David M., Cui, Yuxia, Fallin, Margaret Daniele, Smith, Martyn T., Spira, Avrum, Sumner, Susan, Miller, Gary W.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5047763/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27258438
http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP140
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author Dennis, Kristine K.
Auerbach, Scott S.
Balshaw, David M.
Cui, Yuxia
Fallin, Margaret Daniele
Smith, Martyn T.
Spira, Avrum
Sumner, Susan
Miller, Gary W.
author_facet Dennis, Kristine K.
Auerbach, Scott S.
Balshaw, David M.
Cui, Yuxia
Fallin, Margaret Daniele
Smith, Martyn T.
Spira, Avrum
Sumner, Susan
Miller, Gary W.
author_sort Dennis, Kristine K.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The term “exposome” was originally coined in 2005 and defined as the totality of exposures throughout the lifetime. The exposome provides an excellent scientific framework for studying human health and disease. Recently, it has been suggested that how exposures affect our biology and how our bodies respond to such exposures should be part of the exposome. OBJECTIVES: The authors describe the biological impact of the exposome and outline many of the targets and processes that can be assessed as part of a comprehensive analysis of the exposome. DISCUSSION: The processes that occur downstream from the initial interactions with exogenous and endogenous compounds determine the biological impact of exposures. If the effects are not considered in the same context as the exposures, it will be difficult to determine cause and effect. The exposome and biology are interactive—changes in biology due to the environment change one’s vulnerability to subsequent exposures. Additionally, highly resilient individuals are able to withstand environmental exposures with minimal effects to their health. We expect that the vast majority of exposures are transient, and chemicals underlying exposures that occurred weeks, months, or years ago are long gone from the body. However, these past chemical exposures often leave molecular fingerprints that may be able to provide information on these past exposures. CONCLUSIONS: Through linking exposures to specific biological responses, exposome research could serve to improve understanding of the mechanistic connections between exposures and health to help mitigate adverse health outcomes across the lifespan. CITATION: Dennis KK, Auerbach SS, Balshaw DM, Cui Y, Fallin MD, Smith MT, Spira A, Sumner S, Miller GW. 2016. The importance of the biological impact of exposure to the concept of the exposome. Environ Health Perspect 124:1504–1510; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP140
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spelling pubmed-50477632016-10-10 The Importance of the Biological Impact of Exposure to the Concept of the Exposome Dennis, Kristine K. Auerbach, Scott S. Balshaw, David M. Cui, Yuxia Fallin, Margaret Daniele Smith, Martyn T. Spira, Avrum Sumner, Susan Miller, Gary W. Environ Health Perspect Commentary BACKGROUND: The term “exposome” was originally coined in 2005 and defined as the totality of exposures throughout the lifetime. The exposome provides an excellent scientific framework for studying human health and disease. Recently, it has been suggested that how exposures affect our biology and how our bodies respond to such exposures should be part of the exposome. OBJECTIVES: The authors describe the biological impact of the exposome and outline many of the targets and processes that can be assessed as part of a comprehensive analysis of the exposome. DISCUSSION: The processes that occur downstream from the initial interactions with exogenous and endogenous compounds determine the biological impact of exposures. If the effects are not considered in the same context as the exposures, it will be difficult to determine cause and effect. The exposome and biology are interactive—changes in biology due to the environment change one’s vulnerability to subsequent exposures. Additionally, highly resilient individuals are able to withstand environmental exposures with minimal effects to their health. We expect that the vast majority of exposures are transient, and chemicals underlying exposures that occurred weeks, months, or years ago are long gone from the body. However, these past chemical exposures often leave molecular fingerprints that may be able to provide information on these past exposures. CONCLUSIONS: Through linking exposures to specific biological responses, exposome research could serve to improve understanding of the mechanistic connections between exposures and health to help mitigate adverse health outcomes across the lifespan. CITATION: Dennis KK, Auerbach SS, Balshaw DM, Cui Y, Fallin MD, Smith MT, Spira A, Sumner S, Miller GW. 2016. The importance of the biological impact of exposure to the concept of the exposome. Environ Health Perspect 124:1504–1510; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP140 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 2016-06-03 2016-10 /pmc/articles/PMC5047763/ /pubmed/27258438 http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP140 Text en http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ Publication of EHP lies in the public domain and is therefore without copyright. All text from EHP may be reprinted freely. Use of materials published in EHP should be acknowledged (for example, “Reproduced with permission from Environmental Health Perspectives”); pertinent reference information should be provided for the article from which the material was reproduced. Articles from EHP, especially the News section, may contain photographs or illustrations copyrighted by other commercial organizations or individuals that may not be used without obtaining prior approval from the holder of the copyright.
spellingShingle Commentary
Dennis, Kristine K.
Auerbach, Scott S.
Balshaw, David M.
Cui, Yuxia
Fallin, Margaret Daniele
Smith, Martyn T.
Spira, Avrum
Sumner, Susan
Miller, Gary W.
The Importance of the Biological Impact of Exposure to the Concept of the Exposome
title The Importance of the Biological Impact of Exposure to the Concept of the Exposome
title_full The Importance of the Biological Impact of Exposure to the Concept of the Exposome
title_fullStr The Importance of the Biological Impact of Exposure to the Concept of the Exposome
title_full_unstemmed The Importance of the Biological Impact of Exposure to the Concept of the Exposome
title_short The Importance of the Biological Impact of Exposure to the Concept of the Exposome
title_sort importance of the biological impact of exposure to the concept of the exposome
topic Commentary
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5047763/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27258438
http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP140
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