Exposomics: a review of methodologies, applications, and future directions in molecular medicine

Abstract

The exposome is the measure of all the exposures of an individual in a lifetime and how those exposures relate to health. Exposomics is the emerging field of research to measure and study the totality of the exposome. Exposomics can assist with molecular medicine by furthering our understanding of how the exposome influences cellular and molecular processes such as gene expression, epigenetic modifications, metabolic pathways, and immune responses. These molecular alterations can aid as biomarkers for the diagnosis, disease prediction, early detection, and treatment and offering new avenues for personalized medicine. Advances in high throughput omics and other technologies as well as increased computational analytics is enabling comprehensive measurement and sophisticated analysis of the exposome to elucidate their cumulative and combined impacts on health, which can enable individuals, communities, and policymakers to create programs, policies, and protections that promote healthier environments and people. This review provides an overview of the potential role of exposomics in molecular medicine, covering its history, methodologies, current research and applications, and future directions.

Keywords: Environmental Exposures; Exposomics; Omics; Risk Assessment.

Figure 1. Molecular medicine and the exposomics.

The exposome describes the collective exposures from an individual’s general external environment (climate, urban, rural), the specific external environment (nutrition, pollutants, exercise, pathogens), and the internal environment, (immune response, oxidative stress, metabolites, microbiome). The exposomics studies the exposome and its impacts on health outcomes through environmental exposure measurements and molecular biological responses through (bio)monitoring and omics technologies, respectively.

Figure 2. Data integration in exposomics.

Exposomics is dependent on data from a number of high-throughput technologies as well as information from sensors, geospatial devices, and wearable and mobile devices. The data were then processed and analyzed by statistical and bioinformatic tools that can provide associations between exposures and biological responses.