Digital Commons Network^™

Predictors Of Grandparental Investment Decisions In Contemporary Europe: Biological Relatedness And Beyond, David A. Coall, Sonja Hilbrand, Ralph Hertwig

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Across human cultures, grandparents make a valued contribution to the health of their families and communities. Moreover, evidence is gathering that grandparents have a positive impact on the development of grandchildren in contemporary industrialized societies. A broad range of factors that influence the likelihood grandparents will invest in their grandchildren has been explored by disciplines as diverse as sociology, economics, psychology and evolutionary biology. To progress toward an encompassing framework, this study will include biological relatedness between grandparents and grandchildren, a factor central to some discipline's theoretical frameworks (e.g., evolutionary biology), next to a wide range of other factors in …

Effect Of Bdnf Val66met On Memory Decline And Hippocampal Atrophy In Prodromal Alzheimer's Disease: A Preliminary Study, Yen Y. Lim, Victor L. Villemagne, Simon M. Laws, David Ames, Robert H. Pietrzak, Kathryn A. Ellis, Karra Harrington, Pierrick Bourgeat, Ashley I. Bush, Ralph N. Martins, Colin L. Masters, Christopher C. Rowe, Paul Maruff

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objective: Cross-sectional genetic association studies have reported equivocal results on the relationship between the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met and risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). As AD is a neurodegenerative disease, genetic influences may become clearer from prospective study. We aimed to determine whether BDNF Val66Met polymorphism influences changes in memory performance, hippocampal volume, and Aβ accumulation in adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and high Aβ. Methods: Thirty-four adults with aMCI were recruited from the Australian, Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) Study. Participants underwent PiB-PET and structural MRI neuroimaging, neuropsychological assessments and BDNF genotyping at baseline, 18 month, …

Thinking In Circuits: Toward Neurobiological Explanation In Cognitive Neuroscience., Friedemann Pulvermüller, Max Garagnani, Thomas Wennekers

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Cognitive theory has decomposed human mental abilities into cognitive (sub) systems, and cognitive neuroscience succeeded in disclosing a host of relationships between cognitive systems and specific structures of the human brain. However, an explanation of why specific functions are located in specific brain loci had still been missing, along with a neurobiological model that makes concrete the neuronal circuits that carry thoughts and meaning. Brain theory, in particular the Hebb-inspired neurocybernetic proposals by Braitenberg, now offers an avenue toward explaining brain-mind relationships and to spell out cognition in terms of neuron circuits in a neuromechanistic sense. Central to this endeavor …

Galleria Mellonella Infection Model Demonstrates High Lethality Of St69 And St127 Uropathogenic E. Coli., Majed F. Alghoribi, Tarek M. Gibreel, Andrew R. Dodgson, Scott A. Beatson, Mathew Upton

School of Biomedical Sciences

Galleria mellonella larvae are an alternative in vivo model for investigating bacterial pathogenicity. Here, we examined the pathogenicity of 71 isolates from five leading uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) lineages using G. mellonella larvae. Larvae were challenged with a range of inoculum doses to determine the 50% lethal dose (LD50) and for analysis of survival outcome using Kaplan-Meier plots. Virulence was correlated with carriage of a panel of 29 virulence factors (VF). Larvae inoculated with ST69 and ST127 isolates (10(4) colony-forming units/larvae) showed significantly higher mortality rates than those infected with ST73, ST95 and ST131 isolates, killing 50% of the larvae …

The Complete Genome Sequence Of Escherichia Coli Ec958: A High Quality Reference Sequence For The Globally Disseminated Multidrug Resistant E. Coli O25b:H4-St131 Clone., Brian M. Forde, Zakour Nl Ben, Mitchell Stanton-Cook, Minh Duy Phan, Makrina Totsika, Kate M. Peters, Kok Gan Chan, Mark A. Schembri, Mathew Upton, Scott A. Beatson

School of Biomedical Sciences

Escherichia coli ST131 is now recognised as a leading contributor to urinary tract and bloodstream infections in both community and clinical settings. Here we present the complete, annotated genome of E. coli EC958, which was isolated from the urine of a patient presenting with a urinary tract infection in the Northwest region of England and represents the most well characterised ST131 strain. Sequencing was carried out using the Pacific Biosciences platform, which provided sufficient depth and read-length to produce a complete genome without the need for other technologies. The discovery of spurious contigs within the assembly that correspond to site-specific …

Learning To Pronounce First Words In Three Languages: An Investigation Of Caregiver And Infant Behavior Using A Computational Model Of An Infant., Ian S. Howard, Piers Messum

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Words are made up of speech sounds. Almost all accounts of child speech development assume that children learn the pronunciation of first language (L1) speech sounds by imitation, most claiming that the child performs some kind of auditory matching to the elements of ambient speech. However, there is evidence to support an alternative account and we investigate the non-imitative child behavior and well-attested caregiver behavior that this account posits using Elija, a computational model of an infant. Through unsupervised active learning, Elija began by discovering motor patterns, which produced sounds. In separate interaction experiments, native speakers of English, French and …

Occupational Exposure To Anti-Cancer Drugs: A Review Of Effects Of New Technology., Nitin Vyas, Dennis Yiannakis, Andrew Turner, Graham J. Sewell

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Because anti-cancer drugs are non-selective, they affect both cancerous and non-cancerous cells. Being carcinogenic and mutagenic, many anticancer drugs therefore present a major health risk to healthcare staff working with them. This paper reviews the means by which exposure to anti-cancer drugs in the workplace may be monitored, assessed and reduced. Both biological monitoring, using non-selective methods or compound-selective methods, and environmental monitoring have provided information on the nature and degree of exposure in the workplace. Pharmaceutical isolators, used for the compounding of cytotoxic IV infusions and the preparation of injectable drugs, provide a physical barrier between pharmacists and cytotoxic …

Joint Effect Of Multiple Common Snps Predicts Melanoma Susceptibility, Shenying Fang, Jiali Han, Mingfeng Zhang, Li-E Wang, Qingyi Wei, Christopher I. Amos, Jeffrey E. Lee

Dartmouth Scholarship

Single genetic variants discovered so far have been only weakly associated with melanoma. This study aims to use multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) jointly to obtain a larger genetic effect and to improve the predictive value of a conventional phenotypic model. We analyzed 11 SNPs that were associated with melanoma risk in previous studies and were genotyped in MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) and Harvard Medical School investigations. Participants with ≥15 risk alleles were 5-fold more likely to have melanoma compared to those carrying ≤6. Compared to a model using the most significant single variant rs12913832, the increase in predictive …

The Toxoplasma Gondii Cyst Wall Protein Cst1 Is Critical For Cyst Wall Integrity And Promotes Bradyzoite Persistence, Tadakimi Tomita, David J. Bzik, Yan Fen Ma, Barbara A. Fox

Dartmouth Scholarship

Toxoplasma gondii infects up to one third of the world's population. A key to the success of T. gondii as a parasite is its ability to persist for the life of its host as bradyzoites within tissue cysts. The glycosylated cyst wall is the key structural feature that facilitates persistence and oral transmission of this parasite. Because most of the antibodies and reagents that recognize the cyst wall recognize carbohydrates, identification of the components of the cyst wall has been technically challenging. We have identified CST1 (TGME49_064660) as a 250 kDa SRS (SAG1 related sequence) domain protein with a large …

Sensitization Of Human Cancer Cells To Gemcitabine By The Chk1 Inhibitor Mk-8776: Cell Cycle Perturbation And Impact Of Administration Schedule In Vitro And In Vivo, Ryan Montano, Ruth Thompson, Injae Chung, Huagang Hou, Nadeem Khan, Alan Eastman

Dartmouth Scholarship

Chk1 inhibitors have emerged as promising anticancer therapeutic agents particularly when combined with antimetabolites such as gemcitabine, cytarabine or hydroxyurea. Here, we address the importance of appropriate drug scheduling when gemcitabine is combined with the Chk1 inhibitor MK-8776, and the mechanisms involved in the schedule dependence.

Identifying Potential Cancer Driver Genes By Genomic Data Integration., Yong Chen, Jingjing Hao, Wei Jiang, Tong He, Xuegong Zhang, Tao Jiang, Rui Jiang

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

Cancer is a genomic disease associated with a plethora of gene mutations resulting in a loss of control over vital cellular functions. Among these mutated genes, driver genes are defined as being causally linked to oncogenesis, while passenger genes are thought to be irrelevant for cancer development. With increasing numbers of large-scale genomic datasets available, integrating these genomic data to identify driver genes from aberration regions of cancer genomes becomes an important goal of cancer genome analysis and investigations into mechanisms responsible for cancer development. A computational method, MAXDRIVER, is proposed here to identify potential driver genes on the basis …

Integrating Human Omics Data To Prioritize Candidate Genes., Yong Chen, Xuebing Wu, Rui Jiang

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

BACKGROUND: The identification of genes involved in human complex diseases remains a great challenge in computational systems biology. Although methods have been developed to use disease phenotypic similarities with a protein-protein interaction network for the prioritization of candidate genes, other valuable omics data sources have been largely overlooked in these methods.

METHODS: With this understanding, we proposed a method called BRIDGE to prioritize candidate genes by integrating disease phenotypic similarities with such omics data as protein-protein interactions, gene sequence similarities, gene expression patterns, gene ontology annotations, and gene pathway memberships. BRIDGE utilizes a multiple regression model with lasso penalty to …

Divergent Antibody Subclass And Specificity Profiles But Not Protective Hla-B Alleles Are Associated With Variable Antibody Effector Function Among Hiv-1 Controllers, Jennifer I. Lai, Anna F. Licht, Anne-Sophie Dugast, Todd Suscovich, Ickwon Choi, Chris Bailey-Kellogg, Galit Alter, Margaret E. Ackerman

Dartmouth Scholarship

Understanding the coordination between humoral and cellular immune responses may be the key to developing protective vaccines, and because genetic studies of long-term HIV-1 nonprogressors have associated specific HLA-B alleles with spontaneous control of viral replication, this subject group presents an opportunity to investigate relationships between arms of the adaptive immune system. Given evidence suggesting that cellular immunity may play a role in viral suppression, we sought to determine whether and how the humoral immune response might vary among controllers. Significantly, Fc-mediated antibody effector functions have likewise been associated with durable viral control. In this study, we compared the effector …

Contrast Negation Differentiates Visual Pathways Underlying Dynamic And Invariant Facial Processing, Pamela M. Pallett, Ming Meng

Dartmouth Scholarship

Abstract Bruce and Young (1986) proposed a model for face processing that begins with structural encoding, followed by a split into two processing streams: one for the dynamic aspects of the face (e.g., facial expressions of emotion) and the other for the invariant aspects of the face (e.g., gender, identity). Yet how this is accomplished remains unclear. Here, we took a psychophysical approach using contrast negation to test the Bruce and Young model. Previous research suggests that contrast negation impairs processing of invariant features (e.g., gender) but not dynamic features (e.g., expression). In our first experiment, participants discriminated differences in …

Interactions Of Peptide Triazole Thiols With Env Gp120 Induce Irreversible Breakdown And Inactivation Of Hiv-1 Virions, Arangassery Bastian, Mark Contarino, Lauren D. Bailey, Rachna Aneja, Diogo Rodrigo Magalhaes Moreira, Kevin Freedman, Karyn Mcfadden, Caitlin Duffy, Ali Emileh

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: We examined the underlying mechanism of action of the peptide triazole thiol, KR13 that has been shown previously to specifically bind gp120, block cell receptor site interactions and potently inhibit HIV-1 infectivity.

Results: KR13, the sulfhydryl blocked KR13b and its parent non-sulfhydryl peptide triazole, HNG156, induced gp120 shedding but only KR13 induced p24 capsid protein release. The resulting virion post virolysis had an altered morphology, contained no gp120, but retained gp41 that bound to neutralizing gp41 antibodies. Remarkably, HIV-1 p24 release by KR13 was inhibited by enfuvirtide, which blocks formation of the gp41 6-helix bundle during membrane fusion, while …

Analgesic Tolerance Of Opioid Agonists In Mutant Mu-Opioid Receptors Expressed In Sensory Neurons Following Intrathecal Plasmid Gene Delivery, Guangwen Li, Fei Ma, Yanping Gu, Li-Yen Mae Huang

Physiology Faculty Publications

Background: Phosphorylation sites in the C-terminus of mu-opioid receptors (MORs) are known to play critical roles in the receptor functions. Our understanding of their participation in opioid analgesia is mostly based on studies of opioid effects on mutant receptors expressed in in vitro preparations, including cell lines, isolated neurons and brain slices. The behavioral consequences of the mutation have not been fully explored due to the complexity in studies of mutant receptors in vivo. To facilitate the determination of the contribution of phosphorylation sites in MOR to opioid-induced analgesic behaviors, we expressed mutant and wild-type human MORs (hMORs) in sensory …

Neuronal Clearance Of Amyloid-Β By Endocytic Receptor Lrp1, Takahisa Kanekiyo, John R. Cirrito, Chia-Chen Liu, Mitsuru Shinohara, Jie Li, Dorothy R. Schuler, Motoko Shinohara, David M. Holtzman, Guojun Bu

Open Access Publications

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of dementia in the elderly population. Accumulation, aggregation, and deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides generated through proteolytic cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP) are likely initiating events in the pathogenesis of AD. While Aβ production is accelerated in familial AD, increasing evidence indicates that impaired clearance of Aβ is responsible for late-onset AD. Because Aβ is mainly generated in neurons, these cells are predicted to have the highest risk of encountering Aβ among all cell types in the brain. However, it is still unclear whether they are also involved in Aβ clearance. …

Severe, Fatal Multisystem Manifestations In A Patient With Dolichol Kinase-Congenital Disorder Of Glycosylation., Michelle T Lieu, Bobby G Ng, Jeffrey S. Rush, Tim Wood, Monica J Basehore, Madhuri Hegde, Richard C Chang, Jose E Abdenur, Hudson H Freeze, Raymond Y Wang

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Congenital disorders of glycosylation are a group of metabolic disorders with an expansive and highly variable clinical presentation caused by abnormal glycosylation of proteins and lipids. Dolichol kinase (DOLK) catalyzes the final step in biosynthesis of dolichol phosphate (Dol-P), which is the oligosaccharide carrier required for protein N-glycosylation. Human DOLK deficiency, also known as DOLK-CDG or CDG-Im, results in a syndrome that has been reported to manifest with dilated cardiomyopathy of variable severity. A male neonate born to non-consanguineous parents of Palestinian origin presented with dysmorphic features, genital abnormalities, talipes equinovarus, and severe, refractory generalized seizures. Additional multi-systemic manifestations developed …

Racial Differences In Human Platelet Par4 Reactivity Reflect Expression Of Pctp And Mir-376c., Leonard Edelstein, Lukas M Simon, Raúl Teruel Montoya, Michael Holinstat, Edward S Chen, Angela Bergeron, Xianguo Kong, Srikanth Nagalla, Narla Mohandas, David E Cohen, Jing-Fei Dong, Chad Shaw, Paul Bray

Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research

Racial differences in the pathophysiology of atherothrombosis are poorly understood. We explored the function and transcriptome of platelets in healthy black (n = 70) and white (n = 84) subjects. Platelet aggregation and calcium mobilization induced by the PAR4 thrombin receptor were significantly greater in black subjects. Numerous differentially expressed RNAs were associated with both race and PAR4 reactivity, including PCTP (encoding phosphatidylcholine transfer protein), and platelets from black subjects expressed higher levels of PC-TP protein. PC-TP inhibition or depletion blocked PAR4- but not PAR1-mediated activation of platelets and megakaryocytic cell lines. miR-376c levels were differentially expressed by race and …

Severe, Fatal Multisystem Manifestations In A Patient With Dolichol Kinase-Congenital Disorder Of Glycosylation., Michelle T Lieu, Bobby G Ng, Jeffrey S Rush, Tim Wood, Monica J Basehore, Madhuri Hegde, Richard C Chang, Jose E Abdenur, Hudson H Freeze, Raymond Y Wang

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Congenital disorders of glycosylation are a group of metabolic disorders with an expansive and highly variable clinical presentation caused by abnormal glycosylation of proteins and lipids. Dolichol kinase (DOLK) catalyzes the final step in biosynthesis of dolichol phosphate (Dol-P), which is the oligosaccharide carrier required for protein N-glycosylation. Human DOLK deficiency, also known as DOLK-CDG or CDG-Im, results in a syndrome that has been reported to manifest with dilated cardiomyopathy of variable severity. A male neonate born to non-consanguineous parents of Palestinian origin presented with dysmorphic features, genital abnormalities, talipes equinovarus, and severe, refractory generalized seizures. Additional multi-systemic manifestations developed …

The Gating Charge Should Not Be Estimated By Fitting A Two-State Model To A Q-V Curve, Francisco Bezanilla, Carlos A. Villalba-Galea

School of Pharmacy Faculty Articles

The voltage dependence of charges in voltage-sensitive proteins, typically displayed as charge versus voltage (Q-V) curves, is often quantified by fitting it to a simple two-state Boltzmann function. This procedure overlooks the fact that the fitted parameters, including the total charge, may be incorrect if the charge is moving in multiple steps. We present here the derivation of a general formulation for Q-V curves from multistate sequential models, including the case of infinite number of states. We demonstrate that the commonly used method to estimate the charge per molecule using a simple Boltzmann fit is not only inadequate, but in …

Association Between In Utero Arsenic Exposure, Placental Gene Expression, And Infant Birth Weight: A Us Birth Cohort Study, Dennis Liang Fei, Devin C. Koestler, Zhigang Li, Camilla Giambelli, Avencia Sanchez-Mejias, Julie Gosse, Carmen J. Marsit, Margaret R. Karagas, David J. Robbins

Dartmouth Scholarship

Epidemiologic studies and animal models suggest that in utero arsenic exposure affects fetal health, with a negative association between maternal arsenic ingestion and infant birth weight often observed. However, the molecular mechanisms for this association remain elusive. In the present study, we aimed to increase our understanding of the impact of low-dose arsenic exposure on fetal health by identifying possible arsenic-associated fetal tissue biomarkers in a cohort of pregnant women exposed to arsenic at low levels.

Methods: Arsenic concentrations were determined from the urine samples of a cohort of 133 pregnant women from New Hampshire. Placental tissue samples collected from …

Review Of Cerebral Aneurysm Formation, Growth, And Rupture., Nohra Chalouhi, Md, Brian L Hoh, David Hasan

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Dopaminergic Modulation Of Memory And Affective Processing In Parkinson Depression, Lee X. Blonder, John T. Slevin, Richard J. Kryscio, Catherine A. Martin, Anders H. Andersen, Charles D Smith, Frederick A. Schmitt

Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Center Faculty Publications

Depression is common in Parkinson's disease and is associated with cognitive impairment. Dopaminergic medications are effective in treating the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease; however, little is known regarding the effects of dopaminergic pharmacotherapy on cognitive function in depressed Parkinson patients. This study examines the neuropsychological effects of dopaminergic pharmacotherapy in Parkinsonian depression. We compared cognitive function in depressed and non-depressed Parkinson patients at two time-points: following overnight withdrawal and after the usual morning regimen of dopaminergic medications. A total of 28 non-demented, right-handed patients with mild to moderate idiopathic Parkinson's disease participated. Ten of these patients were depressed according …

Targeting Cell Cycle And Hormone Receptor Pathways In Cancer., C E S Comstock, M A Augello, J F Goodwin, R De Leeuw, M J Schiewer, W F Ostrander, R A Burkhart, A K Mcclendon, Peter Mccue, Edouard J. Trabulsi, Costas D. Lallas, Leonard G Gomella, Md, M M Centenera, Jonathan Brody, Md, L M Butler, W D Tilley, K E Knudsen, Phd

Department of Cancer Biology Faculty Papers

The cyclin/cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)/retinoblastoma (RB)-axis is a critical modulator of cell cycle entry and is aberrant in many human cancers. New nodes of therapeutic intervention are needed that can delay or combat the onset of malignancies. The antitumor properties and mechanistic functions of PD-0332991 (PD; a potent and selective CDK4/6 inhibitor) were investigated using human prostate cancer (PCa) models and primary tumors. PD significantly impaired the capacity of PCa cells to proliferate by promoting a robust G1-arrest. Accordingly, key regulators of the G1-S cell cycle transition were modulated including G1 cyclins D, E and A. Subsequent investigation demonstrated the ability …

Serine/Threonine Kinase 17a Is A Novel Candidate For Therapeutic Targeting In Glioblastoma, Pingping Mao, Mary P. Hever-Jardine, Gilbert J. Rahme, Eric Yang, Janice Tam, Anita Kodali, Bijesh Biswal, Camilo E. Fadul, Arti Gaur, Mark A. Israel, Michael J. Spinella

Dartmouth Scholarship

STK17A is a relatively uncharacterized member of the death-associated protein family of serine/threonine kinases which have previously been associated with cell death and apoptosis. Our prior work established that STK17A is a novel p53 target gene that is induced by a variety of DNA damaging agents in a p53-dependent manner. In this study we have uncovered an additional, unanticipated role for STK17A as a candidate promoter of cell proliferation and survival in glioblastoma (GBM). Unexpectedly, it was found that STK17A is highly overexpressed in a grade-dependent manner in gliomas compared to normal brain and other cancer cell types with the …

X-Linked Mtmr8 Diversity And Evolutionary History Of Sub-Saharan Populations, Damian Labuda, Vania Yotova, Jean-François Lefebvre, Claudia Moreau, Gerd Utermann, Scott M. Williams

Dartmouth Scholarship

The genetic diversity within an 11 kb segment of the MTMR8 gene in a sample of 111 sub-Saharan and 49 non-African X chromosomes was investigated to assess the early evolutionary history of sub-Saharan Africans and the out-of-Africa expansion. The analyses revealed a complex genetic structure of the Africans that contributed to the emergence of modern humans. We observed partitioning of two thirds of old lineages among southern, west/central and east African populations indicating ancient population stratification predating the out of Africa migration. Age estimates of these lineages, older than coalescence times of uniparentally inherited markers, raise the question whether contemporary …

Findings From The Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome Registry Of Uruguay, Asadur Tchekmedyian, Christopher I. Amos, Sherri J. Bale, Dakai Zhu, Stefan Arold, Joaquin Berrueta, Natalie Nabon, Thomas Mcgarrity

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS) is characterized by intestinal polyposis, mucocutaneous pigmentation and an increased cancer risk, usually caused by mutations of the STK11 gene. This study collected epidemiological, clinical and genetic data from all Uruguayan PJS patients. Methods: Clinical data were obtained from public and private medical centers and updated annually. Sequencing of the STK11 gene in one member of each family was performed. Results and discussion: 25 cases in 11 unrelated families were registered (15 males, 10 females). The average age of diagnosis and death was 18 and 41 years respectively. All patients had characteristic PJS pigmentation and gastrointestinal …

On The Evolution Of The Serotonin Transporter Linked Polymorphic Region (5-Httlpr) In Primates, Seth D. Dobson, Lauren J.N Brent

Dartmouth Scholarship

Some allelic variants of the serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) result in lower levels of expression of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4). These low-expressing (LE) alleles are associated with mental-health disorders in a minority of humans that carry them. Humans are not the only primates that exhibit this polymorphism; other species, including some monkeys, also have LE and high-expressing (HE) variants of 5-HTTLPR. We propose a behavioral genetic framework to explain the adaptive evolution of this polymorphism in primates, including humans. We hypothesize that both LE and HE alleles are maintained by balancing selection in species characterized …

Diet And Toenail Arsenic Concentrations In A New Hampshire Population With Arsenic-Containing Water, Kathryn L. Cottingham, Roxanne Karimi, Joann F. Gruber, M Scot Zens, Vicki Sayarath, Carol L. Folt, Tracy Punshon, J. Steven Morris, Margaret R. Karagas

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: Limited data exist on the contribution of dietary sources of arsenic to an individual's total exposure, particularly in populations with exposure via drinking water. Here, the association between diet and toenail arsenic concentrations (a long-term biomarker of exposure) was evaluated for individuals with measured household tap water arsenic. Foods known to be high in arsenic, including rice and seafood, were of particular interest.

Methods: Associations between toenail arsenic and consumption of 120 individual diet items were quantified using general linear models that also accounted for household tap water arsenic and potentially confounding factors (e.g., age, caloric intake, sex, smoking) …