Hokkaido University · Environmental Science
Professor Sumitaka Kobayashi's research lab focuses on environmental and metabolic influences on fetal and child health, with a particular emphasis on prenatal exposures to environmental contaminants such as mercury, caffeine, tobacco smoke, and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The lab investigates how these exposures interact with maternal genetics and metabolic conditions—such as gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM)—to affect fetal growth, birth outcomes, and long-term neurodevelopment. Key research directions include the role of maternal biomarkers (e.g., blood mercury, cotinine, PFOS/PFOA) and genetic polymorphisms in nuclear receptors in shaping fetal fatty acid metabolism and growth trajectories.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
There was no association between maternal blood mercury levels and small-for-gestational-age and birth weight among 15,444 pregnant women. In a Japanese population, which has a relatively higher blood mercury level than reported in Western population, reduced birth size was not found to be associated with blood mercury levels, with the exception of birth head circumference.
Prenatal caffeine consumption was associated with birth size. However, as the association between prenatal caffeine consumption and birth size was likely confounded by unpredicted potential factors, our confidence in the true causality of the association is moderate.
A plasma cotinine level of ≥3.03 ng/mL, which included both passive and active smokers, was associated with an increased risk of SGA. This finding is of important relevance when educating pregnant women about avoiding prenatal passive and active smoking due to the adverse effects on their infants, even those born at full-term.
Neurodevelopment was significantly delayed up to 4 years-of-age among boys born to women with GDM.
The effect of interactions between perfluorooctanesulfonic (PFOS)/perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) levels and nuclear receptor genotypes on fatty acid (FA) levels, including those of triglycerides, is not clear understood. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to analyse the association of PFOS/PFOA levels and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in nuclear receptors with FA levels in pregnant women. We analysed 504 mothers in a birth cohort between 2002 and 2005 in Japan. Serum PFOS/PFOA and
Large for gestational age and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy were associated with pre-pregnancy BMI and GWG in either normal weight or overweight/obese women, and the relationship was strengthened when GDM was present. Women with GDM and a BMI of ≥25.0 kg/m<sup>2</sup> are at risk of having small for gestational age and large for gestational age infants depending on GWG.
Neurodevelopmental delay is associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. Prenatal metal exposure can potentially cause neurodevelopmental delays in children. This study examines whether prenatal exposure to mercury (Hg) and selenium (Se) is associated with the risk of neurodevelopmental delays in children up to 4 years of age. Children enrolled in a prospective birth cohort of the Japan Environment and Children's Study were examined. Hg and Se levels in maternal (n<sub>child</sub> = 48,731) and
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