Impact of Combined Exposures on Metabolic Health (ICE)

Exposures such as diet, gut microbiota and environmental pollutants are recognized as major determinants of health and non-communicable diseases (NCD). NCDs are the leading causes of death in Sweden and globally and a specific target of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The exposome, i.e. the sum of all exposures, represents a shift in focus from ‘one exposure, one disease’ to a holistic assessment of combined exposures.

However, underlying causal pathways from environmental exposures to health status are largely unknownsince methods to evaluate the joint effect of multiple exposures on metabolic pathways are largely lacking.

We therefore aim to establish proof-of-concept on how combined exposures (diet, microbiota and organic pollutants) regulate metabolic pathways of importance to health, reflected by NCD risk factors.

We will use novel modelling tools that combine epidemiological modelling with high-dimensional metabolomics data in the BioDiVa, SMC-C and MAX cohorts to identify underlying molecular mechanisms.

Using a combination of machine learning with epidemiological modelling can help to disentangle the relative contributions of different exposures on health.

By exploring exposome-health associations through an exposome framework that allows the integration of exposures through their reflections on metabolic regulation, this project has an opportunity to make a significant impact going far beyond one exposure, one pathway or one disease.