Health Risks from Environmental Exposures

1
Health Risks from Environmental Exposures
Emerging Environmental Issues Affecting Women
and Childrens Health
Kenneth S. Ramos, B. Pharm., Ph.D.
2
Health Risks / Susceptibility

• Genetics
• Age
• Environmental
• Factors

3
Health Risks / Susceptibility

• Chemicals
• Physical Factors

4
Gene-Environment Interactions
Genes
Environment
5
Dose-Response Relationships
 
6
Deleterious Consequences in Disorders of
Reproduction and Development

• Congenital Anomalies
• Other Health Problems
• Fetal Basis of Disease

Diabetes Hypertension Atherosclerosis Cancer
7
Known Genetic Targets

• and their role in developmental disease

F
C
Wt-1
8
New Technologies

• Medical advances in the study and management of
  environmental developmental disease

9
Wt-1 Ahr Interactions During Nephrogenesis
Igf-1 rec
Wnt 4
20
10
18
9
16
8
7
14
6
12
Fold Change
Fold Change
5
10
4
8
3
6
2
4
1
2
0
0
mK3
NT
NT
mK3
siAhr/EV
siAhr/Wt1
Scr RNA
siAhr/EV
Scr RNA
siAhr/Wt1
sFrp-1
2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
Fold Change
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
NT
mK3
siAhr/EV
siAhr/Wt1
Scr RNA
10
Concluding Remarks

• Human health and disease reflects the interplay
  of genetics, age and the environment
• Gene-environment interactions play a central role
  in reproductive and developmental human disease
• The dose makes the poison
• Gene-based studies can help identify biological
  pathways influenced by environmental factors
• Emerging molecular technologies may help to make
  the promise of genomics a reality in the 21st
  century