Road traffic noise exposure and blood DNA methylation at birth and in childhood: An epigenome-wide meta-analysis

Road traffic noise exposure has been associated with multiple adverse outcomes in epidemiological studies. However, the underlying biological mechanisms remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between road traffic noise exposure and cord blood and child blood DNA methylation (DNAm). Data from six European studies (BAMSE, Generation R, HELIX, INMA, LISA, PIAMA) were used to perform the discovery epigenome-wide meta-analysis. Prenatal, infancy, and recent road traffic noise exposure was assessed at the residential addresses. Blood DNAm was measured using the Illumina 450 K or EPIC arrays. To identify differentially methylated positions (DMPs), we fitted robust linear regression models for each cohort, and the results were subsequently meta-analyzed. Differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were identified using Comb-p and DMRcate. Findings were then looked-up in the independent ALSPAC cohort, in which noise was measured categorically. A total of 1477 newborns with DNAm data in cord blood, and 1129 and 2065 with DNAm in child blood (age 4-6 and age 8-10 years, respectively) were included in the discovery meta-analysis. We did not observe genome-wide significant (False Discovery Rate (FDR) < 0.05) DMPs associated with road traffic noise exposure. However, 46 DMPs reached suggestive significance (P < 1 × 10<sup>-5</sup>) across different time windows. One CpG site (cg09400092, annotated to SSTR1) associated with recent noise exposure at age 8-10 years was also significantly associated in the ALSPAC cohort (same direction of association with P = 0.00165). In addition, we identified a total of 93 FDR significant DMRs, of which 14 were nominally significant in the ALSPAC study. In conclusion, we observed suggestive evidence of an association between road traffic noise exposure and DNAm in child blood. This may indicate that differential DNAm plays a role in the biological mechanism underlying health effects of noise exposure.

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Journal
Environment International
Published
2025-12-03
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109976
Primary Topic
Noise Effects and Management
Type
article
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article

Road traffic noise exposure and blood DNA methylation at birth and in childhood: An epigenome-wide meta-analysis

Ahmed Elhakeem, Judith M. Vonk, Gerard H. Koppelman, Ayoung Jeong et al.
Environment International
Noise Effects and Management
article

Road traffic noise exposure and blood DNA methylation at birth and in childhood: An epigenome-wide meta-analysis

Ahmed Elhakeem, Judith M. Vonk, Gerard H. Koppelman, Ayoung Jeong, Zhebin Yu, Ana Gonçalves Soares, Mark J Nieuwenhuijsen, Nicole M Probst-Hensch, Medea Imboden, Ulrike Gehring, Elisabeth Thiering, María Foraster, Norun Hjertager Krog, Irene Fontes Marques, Janine F. Felix, Stephanie J. London, Andrei Pyko, Michelle S.W. Kusters, Mariona Bustamante, Mikael Ögren, Gunn Marit Aasvang, Simon Kebede Merid, Miriam Leskien, Olena Gruzieva, Kimberley Burrows, Marie Standl, Johanna Lepeule, Annette Peters, Vincent WV Jaddoe, Göran Pershagen, Roel Vermeulen, Mònica Guxens, Erik Melén
article en

Abstract

Road traffic noise exposure has been associated with multiple adverse outcomes in epidemiological studies. However, the underlying biological mechanisms remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between road traffic noise exposure and cord blood and child blood DNA methylation (DNAm). Data from six European studies (BAMSE, Generation R, HELIX, INMA, LISA, PIAMA) were used to perform the discovery epigenome-wide meta-analysis. Prenatal, infancy, and recent road traffic noise exposure was assessed at the residential addresses. Blood DNAm was measured using the Illumina 450 K or EPIC arrays. To identify differentially methylated positions (DMPs), we fitted robust linear regression models for each cohort, and the results were subsequently meta-analyzed. Differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were identified using Comb-p and DMRcate. Findings were then looked-up in the independent ALSPAC cohort, in which noise was measured categorically. A total of 1477 newborns with DNAm data in cord blood, and 1129 and 2065 with DNAm in child blood (age 4-6 and age 8-10 years, respectively) were included in the discovery meta-analysis. We did not observe genome-wide significant (False Discovery Rate (FDR) < 0.05) DMPs associated with road traffic noise exposure. However, 46 DMPs reached suggestive significance (P < 1 × 10<sup>-5</sup>) across different time windows. One CpG site (cg09400092, annotated to SSTR1) associated with recent noise exposure at age 8-10 years was also significantly associated in the ALSPAC cohort (same direction of association with P = 0.00165). In addition, we identified a total of 93 FDR significant DMRs, of which 14 were nominally significant in the ALSPAC study. In conclusion, we observed suggestive evidence of an association between road traffic noise exposure and DNAm in child blood. This may indicate that differential DNAm plays a role in the biological mechanism underlying health effects of noise exposure.

Environment InternationalVol. 207
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), National Institutes of Health (US), Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NO), University Medical Center Groningen (NL), Inserm (FR), Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (CH), Universitat Pompeu Fabra (ES), University of Basel (CH), Utrecht University (NL), At Bristol (GB), Erasmus MC (NL), Center for Environmental Health (US), Karolinska Institutet (SE), Helmholtz Zentrum München (DE), University of Bristol (GB), Stockholm South General Hospital (SE), National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (US), German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DE), Institut pour l'avancée des biosciences (FR), Universitat Ramon Llull (ES), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE), University of Gothenburg (SE), Université Grenoble Alpes (FR)
Openalex Percentile: Top 52%
Noise Effects and Management
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