Metabolomics and adductomics of newborn bloodspots to retrospectively assess the early-life exposome

Abstract

Purpose of review: Exposomics studies can measure health-relevant chemical exposures during a lifetime and estimate the 'internal' environment. However, sampling limitations make these features difficult to capture directly during the critical neonatal time period.

Recent findings: We review the use of newborn dried bloodspots (DBS) archived from newborn screening programs for exposomic analysis in epidemiological children's health studies. Emerging 'omics technologies such as adductomics and metabolomics have been adapted for DBS analysis, and these technologies can now provide valuable etiological information on the complex interplay between exposures, biological response, and population phenotypes.

Summary: Adductomics and metabolomics of DBS can provide robust measurements for retrospective epidemiological investigations. With extensive bioarchiving programs in the United States and other countries, DBS are poised to substantially aid epidemiological studies, particularly for rare and low-frequency childhood diseases and disorders.

Figure 1.. Theoretical framework for newborn internal exposome.

External exposures from food, prescription drugs, pollution, lifestyle-exercise, psychosocial factors, and infections mediated by the mother during fetal development or directly received by the newborn at birth can be directly measured in biological samples such as DBS. The cys-proteome and metabolome describe measurable readouts of reactive small molecules binding with proteins (adducts) and endogenous and exogenous small molecules (metabolites) due to interaction between external exposures (maternal or newborn), ‘omic layers and microbiome (maternal, fetal, or newborn) and small molecules produced from adverse health itself (maternal, fetal, or newborn)(12,15). Printed with permission from ©Mount Sinai Health System