Secondhand smoke exposure is a major public health risk that is especially harmful to the developing brain, but it is unclear if early exposure affects brain structure during middle age and older adulthood. Here we analyzed brain MRI data from the UK Biobank in a population-based sample of individuals (ages 44-80) who were exposed (n = 2510) or unexposed (n = 6079) to smoking around birth. We used robust statistical models, including quantile regressions, to test the effect of perinatal smoke exposure (PSE) on cortical surface area (SA), thickness, and subcortical volumes. We hypothesized that PSE would be associated with cortical disruption in primary sensory areas compared to unexposed (PSE-) adults. After adjusting for multiple comparisons, SA was significantly lower in the pericalcarine (PCAL), inferior parietal (IPL), and regions of the temporal and frontal cortex of PSE+ adults; these abnormalities were associated with increased risk for several diseases, including circulatory and endocrine conditions. Sensitivity analyses conducted in a hold-out group of healthy participants (exposed, n = 109, unexposed, n = 315) replicated the effect of PSE on SA in the PCAL and IPL. Collectively our results show a negative, long term effect of PSE on sensory cortices that may increase risk for disease later in life.

中文翻译：

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围产期暴露于母体吸烟后数十年中，皮质大脑结构的改变和疾病风险的增加：英国生物库中9000名成年人的研究。

二手烟暴露是一种主要的公共健康风险，尤其对发育中的大脑有害，但尚不清楚早期暴露是否会影响中年和成年后的大脑结构。在这里，我们分析了来自英国生物库的UK大脑中的MRI数据，这些数据来自于人口出生（n = 2510）或未暴露（n = 6079）的人群（44-80岁）。我们使用了可靠的统计模型，包括分位数回归，来测试围产期烟尘暴露（PSE）对皮层表面积（SA），厚度和皮层下体积的影响。我们假设与未暴露的（PSE-）成人相比，PSE与主要感觉区域的皮质破坏有关。经过多次比较调整后，SA显着降低了黄ical总碱（PCAL），顶壁下（IPL），PSE +成人的颞叶和额叶皮层区域；这些异常与多种疾病的风险增加有关，包括循环系统和内分泌疾病。在一群健康参与者（暴露，n = 109，未暴露，n = 315）中进行的敏感性分析复制了PSE对PCAL和IPL中SA的影响。总的来说，我们的研究结果表明，PSE对感觉皮层具有长期的负面影响，这可能会增加以后生活中疾病的风险。