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The Mitsui & Co. Environment Fund

Introduction to Grant Projects

Takahiro Arima, Professor, Tohoku University School of Medicine

Assessment of exposure to organochlorine compounds and the risk to the health of the next generation —A regional revitalization project to indicate fetal and newborn growth and development—

Research grant

Project Description

Coastal areas were contaminated with sea bottom sediments, heavy oil and other substances by the tsunami after the Great East Japan Earthquake, and there are concerns about people being exposed to these. Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) do not easily break down, but tend to accumulate will remain in the environment and be serious source of pollution. In this application, we propose confirming whether people have been exposed to these, mainly in Ishinomaki City which has an industrial area, and an empirical epidemiological investigation of pregnant women and their babies, who are the most vulnerable to exposure to POPs.

Grant year
FY2011 Research Grants
Grant term
3 years
October 2011 - September 2014
Grant amount
15,954,000 yen
Activity region
Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
To verify whether or not people have been exposed, we will track the growth and development of newborn infants using neurobehavioral indicators, through neonatal behavior evaluation (at 3 days of age, NBAS) and Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID).

Overview of the Organization

Takahiro Arima, Professor
Representative
Takahiro Arima, Professor
Profile
Specialist fields
Obstetrics and gynecology, molecular biology
Affiliated academic societies
Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Japanese Cancer Association, The Japan Society of Human Genetics, International Federation of Placental Association, The Molecular Biology Society of Japan, Japan Society for Repor-Regeneral Medicine
Background
Associate (medical doctor) at a hospial affiliated to the Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, 1993; Wellcome CRC Laboratory, Cambridge University, UK, 1998; Assistant, Department of Molecular Genetics, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, 2001; COE Independent Fellow, Tohoku University School of Medicine, 2006; Associate Professor, Clinical Research, Innovation and Education Center, Tohoku University Hospital, 2008; Professor, Graduate School of Environmental Genetics Medical Center, Tohoku University School of Medicine
WEB site
http://www.med.tohoku.ac.jp
Collaborators
Nobuo Yaegashi, Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine; Junichi Sugawara, Lecturer, Perinatal Studies, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine; Naoyuki Kurokawa, Lecturer, Miyagi University of Education
Research record
  • (1) Watanabe T, Tomizawa S, Mitsuya K, Totoki Y, Yamamoto Y, Kuramochi-Miyagawa S, Iida N, Hoki Y, Murphy P.J, Toyoda A, Gotoh K, Hiura H, Arima T, Fujiyama A, Sado T, Shibata T, Nakano T, Lin H, Ichiyanagi K, Soloway P.D, Sasaki H. Role for piRNAs and non-coding RNA in de novo DNA methylation of the imprinted mouse Rasgrf1 locus. Science 332: 848-852, 2011.
  • (2) Sato A, Hiura H, Okae H, Miyauchi N, Abe Y, Utsunomiya T, Yaegashi N, Arima T. Assessing loss of imprint methylation in sperm from subfertile men using novel methylation PCR-Luminex analysis. Fertility and Sterility 95: 129-134, 2011.
  • (3) Kobayashi H, Sato A, Otsu E, Hiura H, Tomatsu C, Utsunomiya T, Sasaki H, Yaegashi N, Arima T. Aberrant DNA methylation of imprinted loci in sperm from oligospermic patients. Human Mol Genet. 16: 2542-51, 2007.
  • (4) Sato A, Otsu E, Negishi H, Utsunomiya T, Arima T. Aberrant DNA methylation of imprinted loci in superovulated oocytes. Human Reproduction. 22:26-35, 2007.
  • (5) Arima T, Hata K, Tanaka S, Kusumi M, Li E, Kato K, Shiota K, Sasaki H, Wake N. Loss of the maternal imprint in Dnmt3Lmat-/- mice leads to a differentiation defect in the extraembryonic tissue. Devel. Biol. 297: 361-73, 2006.