Background: Prenatal exposure to environmental contaminants is a significant health concern because it has the potential to interfere with host metabolism, leading to adverse health effects in early childhood and later in life. Growing evidence suggests that genetic and environmental factors, as well as their interactions, play a significant role in the development of autoimmune diseases.

Objective: In this study, we hypothesized that prenatal exposure to environmental contaminants impacts cord serum metabolome and contributes to the development of autoimmune diseases.

Methods: We selected cord serum samples from All Babies in Southeast Sweden (ABIS) general population cohort, from infants who later developed one or more autoimmune-mediated and inflammatory diseases: celiac disease (CD), Crohn's disease (IBD), hypothyroidism (HT), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), and type 1 diabetes (T1D) (all cases, N = 62), along with matched controls (N = 268). Using integrated exposomics and metabolomics mass spectrometry (MS) based platforms, we determined the levels of environmental contaminants and metabolites.

Results: Differences in exposure levels were found between the controls and those who later developed various diseases. High contaminant exposure levels were associated with changes in metabolome, including amino acids and free fatty acids. Specifically, we identified marked associations between metabolite profiles and exposure levels of deoxynivalenol (DON), bisphenol S (BPS), and specific per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS).

Impact statement: Abnormal metabolism is a common feature preceding several autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. However, few studies compared common and specific metabolic patterns preceding these diseases. Here we hypothesized that exposure to environmental contaminants impacts cord serum metabolome, which may contribute to the development of autoimmune diseases. We found differences in exposure levels between the controls and those who later developed various diseases, and importantly, on the metabolic changes associated with the exposures. High contaminant exposure levels were associated with specific changes in metabolome. Our study suggests that prenatal exposure to specific environmental contaminants alters the cord serum metabolomes, which, in turn, might increase the risk of various immune-mediated diseases.