Pregnancy, Arsenic and Immune Response

The objective in this study is to investigate whether maternal arsenic exposure and one-carbon metabolism micronutrient deficiencies alter maternal and newborn measures of vaccine-induced protection, respiratory morbidity, and systemic immune function following influenza vaccination during pregnancy. The hypothesis is that maternal arsenic exposure and one-carbon metabolism micronutrient deficiencies alter maternal and newborn influenza antibody titer and avidity, respiratory infection morbidity, and markers of systemic immune function following maternal influenza vaccination during pregnancy. This study leverages a comprehensive pregnancy surveillance system at the JiVitA Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition Research Project site in Bangladesh (hereafter JiVitA) to pursue the following three aims: Aim 1. Establish whether arsenic exposure during pregnancy alters maternal and newborn influenza antibody titer and avidity following maternal influenza vaccination. Aim 2. Determine whether markers of systemic immune function mediate the association between arsenic exposure and respiratory illness in pregnant women and their newborns. Aim 3. Assess whether arsenic exposure and one-carbon metabolism micronutrient deficiencies during pregnancy have a joint effect on markers of systemic immune function and respiratory illness in mothers and their newborns. This study will yield three expected outcomes. First, it will fill critical knowledge gaps about whether arsenic exposure and one-carbon metabolism micronutrient deficiencies alter immune responses to a vaccination with known benefits for mothers and their newborns. Second, it will increase understanding of arsenic-associated respiratory morbidity and specific immune function pathways between arsenic exposure and respiratory morbidity in mothers and their newborns. Finally, as the global availability of vaccines increases, improving knowledge of potential environmental and biologic barriers to maternal and newborn vaccine-induced protection could lead to improved vaccine regimens (targeted vaccination campaigns, higher vaccine doses, and/or additional booster immunizations) to restore vaccine-induced protection in arsenic-exposed and malnutrition-affected populations of pregnant women and newborns worldwide.