Suchergebnisse

Background: There is a substantial body of evidence supporting the association between maternal active smoking during pregnancy and child development, but the association between prenatal exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and early child development has not been well documented. This cross-sectional study examines the association between prenatal exposure to ETS and the development of children in their first two years of life. Methods: We interviewed the primary caregivers of 446 children under two years old in rural Guizhou Province, China. Based on self-reported assessments about whether the mother was exposed to ETS during pregnancy, we divided the children into the ETS-exposed group or the non-exposed group. Sociodemographic information was collected through a questionnaire. The cognitive, language, motor, and socioemotional abilities of children were assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development III (BSID-III). A multivariate linear regression model adjusting for confounding variables was used to estimate the association of interest. Results: About 60% of mothers experienced ETS exposure during pregnancy. Cognitive and language scores were lower among children in the ETS-exposed group. When adjusting for characteristics of the child, the mother, the household, and village fixed effects, prenatal exposure to ETS was associated with lower cognition scores (−3.41; 95% confidence interval (CI): −6.39 to −0.42; p = 0.03) and language scores (−3.01; 95% CI: −5.39 to −0.09; p = 0.04). Frequency of prenatal exposure to ETS was also negatively associated with language development (−0.48; 95% CI: −0.87 to −0.09; p = 0.02) before children reached two years old. Conclusions: Prenatal exposure to ETS is negatively associated with the cognitive and language development of rural young children within their first two years of life. The government should take action to raise public awareness about the negative effects of tobacco use, with an emphasis on the protection of pregnant women and their ...

BACKGROUND: Prenatal exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) has previously shown to alter epigenetic marks. OBJECTIVES: In this work we explore whether prenatal exposure to mixtures of xenoestrogens has the potential to alter the placenta epigenome, by studying DNA methylation in retrotransposons as a surrogate of global DNA methylation. METHODS: The biomarker total effective xenoestrogen burden (TEXB) was measured in 192 placentas from participants in the longitudinal INMA Project. DNA methylation was quantitatively assessed by bisulfite pyrosequencing on 10 different retrotransposons including 3 different long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs), 4 short interspersed nuclear elements (SINEs) and 3 human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs). Associations were tested using linear mixed-effects regression models and sex interaction was evaluated.RESULTS: A significant sex interaction was observed for AluYb8 (p-value for interaction <0.001, significant at Bonferroni corrected p-value threshold of 0.0025). Boys with the highest TEXB-alpha levels of exposure (third tertile) presented on average a decrease of 0.84% in methylation compared to those in the first tertile (p-value<0.001), while no significant effects were found in girls (p-value=0.134). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that boys may be more susceptible to the effect of exposure to xenoestrogens during prenatal development, producing shifts in DNA methylation of certain sensitive genomic repetitive sequences in a tissue important for fetal growth and development. ; This work was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Health (FIS-PI042018; FIS-PI060867; FIS-PI081151; FIS-PI09/02311; FIS-PI09/02647; FIS-PI11/00610); Instituto de Salud Carlos III [Red INMA G03/176 and CB06/02/0041]; the EU Commission (QLK4-1999-01422, QLK4-2002-00603 and CONTAMED FP7-ENV-212502), the Generalitat de Catalunya—CIRIT [1999SGR 00241]; the Consejería de Salud de la Junta de Andalucía (183/07 and 0675/10), the Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa (DFG06/004), the Department of Health of the Basque Government (2005111093), and by the University of Oviedo, Obra Social Cajastur, the Fundación Roger Torné and La Fundació La Marató de TV3. NV was supported by an FPI Grant from the Spanish Ministry of Health (BES-2009-023933) and a Formación de Personal Investigador Grant for Short Research Stays in Foreign Institutions (BES-2009-023933). AA Baccarelli receives support from the Harvard School of Public Health and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Center for Environmental Health (R01 ES021357).The HUSC BioBank, integrated in the Andalusia Public Health System (SSPA) and the National Biobank Network, is financed by the Institute of Health Carlos III, (RD09/0076/00148) and the Regional Government of Andalucia

Introduction. Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is characterised, among other features, by increased impulsivity and aggression, both directed toward the self and others. These clinical signs most likely arise from complex gene-environment interactions. In our study, we sought to elucidate the role of prenatal testosterone exposure in female patients with BPD. Materials and Methods. In a sample of 42 patients and 50 controls matched for age and biological sex, we measured the ratio of the second to the fourth digit of both hands (2D:4D ratio), which is established as a reliable correlate of prenatal testosterone levels in the foetus. In addition, we used several self-rating scales to determine personality dimensions, impulsivity, aggressiveness and risk-taking behaviour. Results. No differences between the groups emerged with regard to 2D:4D ratio of both hands. In ad-dition, there were almost no correlations between psychological measures and the 2D:4D ratio in the entire sample. Conclusions. Contrary to predictions, female patients with BPD did not differ from controls in 2D:4D ratio bimanually, suggesting no abnormal intrauterine (prenatal) exposure to testosterone in this clinical group. As expected, differences between patients and controls in personality traits, impulsivity, aggressiveness and risk-taking were highly significant and in concordance with the existing body of knowledge. Since BPD features are highly heterogeneous, it could be interesting to study subgroups of BPD patients, rather than the broader phenotype according to DSM-5 criteria.

AbstractThe neurotoxicity of NO2 exposure is well-known and potentially causes impaired of neural functions. This review aimed to estimate associations between prenatal NO2 exposure and neurodevelopment for children. Articles published until May 2019 reported prenatal NO2 exposure and children's cognition, psychomotor, language, attention, IQ, and behavior function were searched according to all related terms. The main databases we retrieved included PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library. Coefficient was extracted, conversed, and synthesized by random effects meta-analysis. Meanwhile, qualitatively describe would be used for some studies which cannot be synthesized quantitatively for lack of quantity or methods inconsistency. Finally, a total of 3848 citations were searched, and only 10 studies were included. We estimated that per 10 μg/m3 increase of NO2 during pregnancy was associated with a − 0.76 point decrease in global psychomotor (95% CI, − 1.34, − 0.18) and a − 0.62 point decrease in fine psychomotor for children (95% CI, − 1.09, − 0.16). But no significant association found in general cognitive and language. In addition, through the literature review, it seemed that prenatal exposure to NO2 might cause adverse impacts on children's attention, IQ, and different behaviors, but this requires confirmation from further researches. Our study indicated that prenatal exposure to NO2 seems to be associated with impaired neural development for children, especially for fine psychomotor. However, further studies are needed for determining the effects of prenatal air pollution exposure on attention, IQ, and behavior.

This study was funded by grants from the European Union: NEWGENERIS FP6-2003- Food-3-A-016320, FP7-ENV-2011 cod 282957, HEALTH.2010.2.4.5-1; and by grants from Spain: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Red INMA G03/176, CB06/02/0031, and FIS-FEDER PI03/1615, PI04/1509, PI04/1112, PI04/1931, PI04/2018, PI04/1436, PI05/1079, PI05/1052, PI06/1213, PI07/0314, PI08/1151, PI09/02647, PI09/02311, PI11/01007, PI11/02591, PI11/02038, PI13/1944, PI13/02429, PI14/0891, PI14/1687, and Miguel Servet CP11/00178 and MS13/00054), Conselleria de Sanitat Generalitat Valenciana, Generalitat de Catalunya (CIRIT 1999SGR 00241), Diputación Foral de Guipúzcoa (DFG/004), Departamento de Sanidad y Consumo Gobierno Vasco (2005111093), Obra Social Cajastur, and Oviedo University. ; Iniguez, C; Esplugues, A; Sunyer, J; Basterrechea, M; Fernandez-Somoano, A; Costa, O; Estarlich, M; Aguilera, I; Lertxundi, A; Tardon, A; Guxens, M; Murcia, M; Lopez-Espinosa, MJ; Ballester, F.