Suchergebnisse

Abstract
Apart from SARS-Co-V-2 coronavirus, bats also host many highly virulent zoonotic pathogens. A matter of rising concern is the detrimental impact of pharmaceuticals in the environment, as they can have major impact at low concentrations. Insectivorous bats are among the wildlife animals likely to be exposed due to the bioaccumulation through the food web. Bat's behaviour might be deeply affected by human psychoactive drugs. Current massive antiviral use activity will increase environmental concentrations of these pharmaceuticals, for whose potential eco-toxicological consequences are scarce. We need to study the complex interrelation between people, bats, drugs, viruses, and their shared environment.

Background: Air pollution effects on children's neurodevelopment have recently been suggested to occur most likely through the oxidative stress pathway. Objective: We aimed to assess whether prenatal exposure to residential air pollution is associated with impaired infant mental development, and whether antioxidant/detoxification factors modulate this association. Methods: In the Spanish INfancia y Medio Ambiente (INMA; Environment and Childhood) Project, 2,644 pregnant women were recruited during their first trimester. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and benzene were measured with passive samplers covering the study areas. Land use regression models were developed for each pollutant to predict average outdoor air pollution levels for the entire pregnancy at each residential address. Maternal diet was obtained at first trimester through a validated food frequency questionnaire. Around 14 months, infant mental development was assessed using Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Results: Among the 1,889 children included in the analysis, mean exposure during pregnancy was 29.0 μg/m3 for NO2 and 1.5 μg/m3 for benzene. Exposure to NO2 and benzene showed an inverse association with mental development, although not statistically significant, after adjusting for potential confounders [β (95% confidence interval) = –0.95 (–3.90, 1.89) and –1.57 (–3.69, 0.56), respectively, for a doubling of each compound]. Stronger inverse associations were estimated for both pollutants among infants whose mothers reported low intakes of fruits/vegetables during pregnancy [–4.13 (–7.06, –1.21) and –4.37 (–6.89, –1.86) for NO2 and benzene, respectively], with little evidence of associations in the high-intake group (interaction p-values of 0.073 and 0.047). Inverse associations were also stronger in non-breast-fed infants and infants with low maternal vitamin D, but effect estimates and interactions were not significant. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that prenatal exposure to residential air pollutants may adversely affect infant mental development, but potential effects may be limited to infants whose mothers report low antioxidant intakes. ; This study was funded by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Health-Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Red INMA G03/176, CB06/02/0041, FIS-PI041436, FIS- PI081151, FIS-PI042018, FIS-PI09/02311, FIS-PI06/0867, FIS-PS09/00090, FIS-FEDER 03/1615, 04/1509, 04/1112, 04/1931, 05/1079, 05/1052, 06/1213, 07/0314, and 09/02647), Generalitat de Catalunya-CIRIT (Consell Interdepartamental de Recerca i Innovació Tecnològica) (1999SGR 00241), Conselleria de Sanitat Generalitat Valenciana, Universidad de Oviedo, Obra social Cajastur, Department of Health of the Basque Government (2005111093 and 2009111069), the Provincial Government of Gipuzkoa (DFG06/004 and DFG08/001), and Fundación Roger Torné

(1) Background: Bullying affects a large number of children worldwide. This study has two objectives, to provide data on the prevalence of bullying in Spain, and to identify risk and protective factors associated with bullying. (2) Methods: Participants were 858 eleven-year-old children. Bullying was assessed using a short version of the Olweus Bully Victim Questionnaire, and the following data were gathered to explore potential predictors: individual (inattention, behavior problems, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptomatology, traumatic life events), family-related (sociodemographic characteristics, family context, child-parent relations), school-related (school characteristics, peer and social support, school environment) and community-related data. (3) Results: 9.3% of the children were victims, 1.4% bullies and 1.6% bully-victims. Results showed that a higher level of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptomatology increased the risk of victimization, whereas having better relationships with parents and stronger social support were associated with a lower risk of victimization. Children having strong peer relationships and social support was also associated with less risk of perpetrating bullying. Finally, having behavior problems at 8 years of age was associated with being a bully-victim. (4) Conclusions: The findings emphasize the importance of studying all bullying predictors together, regarding three of the roles children may take in bullying situations. ; This research received external funding of: Carlos III Health Institute (Red INMA G03/176, FIS-PI041436, PI06/0867, PI081151, PI09/00090, PI09/02311, PI11/0610, PI13/02187, PI13/02406, PI13/02429, PI13/1944, PI13/2032, PI14/0891, PI14/1687, PI16/1288, CB06/02/0041), Miguel Servet Foundation-FEDER MS15/0025, MS16/00085, MS13/00054), the Generalitat of Valencia (FISABIO UGP 15–230), the Generalitat of Catalonia-CIRT 1999SGR 00241, the Department of Health of the Basque Government (2005111093, 2009111069, 2013111089 and 2015111065) and the Government of Gipuzkoa (DFG06/002, DFG08/001 and DFG08/001.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement no 308333 – the HELIX project. Moreover, annual agreements had been made with the municipalities of the study area (Beasain, Zumarraga, Urretxu, Legazpi, Azkoitia and Azpeitia). JJ holds Miguel Servet-II contract (CPII19/00015) awarded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Co-funded by European Social Fund "Investing in your future"). IB would like to thank the Department of Education, Language Policy and Culture of the Government of the Basque Country for a predoctoral research training grant (PRE_2019_2_0036).

Objective: To investigate the possible association between birth size or gestational length and maternal serum concentrations of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in a population exposed to background levels. Methods: A total of 1568 mother-child pairs recruited in three Spanish areas (INMA Project) from 2004 to 2008 participated in the study. Multivariate analysis was performed between birth weight and length, weeks of gestation, preterm birth or small for gestational age and HCB concentrations in maternal serum. Results: The median concentration of HCB was 45.45. ng/g lipids. No association was found between HCB exposure levels and birth weight (β 50.42 [109.88; 9.04]), birth length (β: 0.07 [0.32; 0.18]), gestation age (HR: 1.07 [0.94; 1.22]), small for gestational age (OR: 0.95 [0.56; 1.61]) and preterm birth (OR: 0.60 [0.29; 1.28]). Results remain similar after adjustment for other organochlorines. Conclusion: Our findings support the idea that exposure to low levels of HCB does not affect the intrauterine growth nor the duration of gestation. ; a Public Health Division of Gipuzkoa, Basque Government, Spain b Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Spain c Health Research Institute, Biodonostia, San Sebastián, Spain d University of the Basque Country, Spain e Unit of Environment and Health, Centre for Public Health Research (CSISP), Valencia, Spain f University of Valencia, Spain g Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain h Public Health Laboratory, Basque Government, Spain i Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain j University of Granada, San Cecilio Universitary Hospital, Granada, Spain ; No

Background: Prenatal and early-life periods may be critical windows for harmful effects of air pollution on infant health. Objectives: We studied the association of air pollution exposure during pregnancy and the first year of life with respiratory illnesses, ear infections, and eczema during the first 12–18 months of age in a Spanish birth cohort of 2,199 infants. Methods: We obtained parentally reported information on doctor-diagnosed lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) and parental reports of wheezing, eczema, and ear infections. We estimated individual exposures to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and benzene with temporally adjusted land use regression models. We used log-binomial regression models and a combined random-effects meta-analysis to estimate the effects of air pollution exposure on health outcomes across the four study locations. Results: A 10-µg/m3 increase in average NO2 during pregnancy was associated with LRTI [relative risk (RR) = 1.05; 95% CI: 0.98, 1.12] and ear infections (RR = 1.18; 95% CI: 0.98, 1.41). The RRs for an interquartile range (IQR) increase in NO2 were 1.08 (95% CI: 0.97, 1.21) for LRTI and 1.31 (95% CI: 0.97, 1.76) for ear infections. Compared with NO2, the association for an IQR increase in average benzene exposure was similar for LRTI (RR = 1.06; 95% CI: 0.94, 1.19) and slightly lower for ear infections (RR = 1.17; 95% CI: 0.93, 1.46). Associations were slightly stronger among infants whose mothers spent more time at home during pregnancy. Air pollution exposure during the first year was highly correlated with prenatal exposure, so we were unable to discern the relative importance of each exposure period. Conclusions: Our findings support the hypothesis that early-life exposure to ambient air pollution may increase the risk of upper and lower respiratory tract infections in infants. ; This study was funded by grants from Spanish Ministry of Health–Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Red INMA G03/176, CB06/02/0041, FIS-PI041436, FIS- PI081151, FIS-PI042018, FIS-PI09/02311, FIS-PI06/0867, FIS-PS09/00090, FIS-FEDER 03/1615, 04/1509, 04/1112, 04/1931, 05/1079, 05/1052, 06/1213, 07/0314, and 09/02647), Generalitat de Catalunya-CIRIT (Consejo Interdepartamental de Investigación e Innovación Tecnológica) (1999SGR 00241), Conselleria de Sanitat Generalitat Valenciana, Universidad de Oviedo, Obra social Cajastur, Department of Health of the Basque Government (2005111093 and 2009111069), Provincial Government of Gipuzkoa (DFG06/004 and DFG08/001), and Fundación Roger Torné. M.P. holds a Juan de la Cierva post-doctoral fellowship awarded from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (JCI-2011-09479)

Ferritin status during prenatal brain development may influence the risk of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in childhood. We investigated the association of maternal ferritin in pregnancy and ADHD-like symptoms in offspring. A total of 1095 mother-child pairs from three birth cohorts of the INMA Project (Spain) were studied. Maternal plasma ferritin in pregnancy was measured at 11.57 weeks of gestation. Children's ADHD-like symptoms at ages 4-5 years were assessed using the ADHD Rating Scale-IV. The count model of the zero-inflated Poisson regression model showed a significant inverse association between ferritin (continuous variable) and inattention, β = -0.19 (-0.32, -0.07), for boys. Comparing ferritin level by tertiles, significant differences were observed between the first tertile ([1.98, 20.92]) and the second ([20.92, 38.79]) and third tertiles ([38.79, 216.5]) (mg/L).The number of symptoms was lower for those in the third tertile, β = -0.3 (-0.55, -0.5), and for those in the second one, β = -0.37 (-0.6, -0.14). The model stratification by sex also showed this inverse association for boys only, β = -0.21 (-0.34, -0.08). No associations were found between ferritin level and hyperactivity or total ADHD symptoms. High ferritin levels during pregnancy show a protective association with child inattentive-type ADHD symptoms. ; Gipuzkoa: This study was funded by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FIS-PI06/0867, FIS-PI09/00090 and FIS-PI13/02187), CIBERESP, Department of Health of the Basque Government (2005111093, 2009111069 and 2013111089) and the Provincial Government of Gipuzkoa (DFG06/002 and DFG08/001). Sabadell: This study was funded by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Red INMA G03/176; CB06/02/0041; PI041436; and PI081151 including support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Generalitat de Catalunya-CIRIT 1999SGR 00241, Fundació La marató de TV3 (090430). ISGlobal is a member of the CERCA Programme, Generalitat de Catalunya. Valencia: This study was funded by grants from the European Union (FP7-ENV-2011, grant number: 282957 and HEALTH.2010.2.4.5-1); Spain (ISCIII: G03/176; FIS-ERDF: PI11/01007, PI11/02591, PI11/02038, PI12/00610, PI13/1944, PI13/2032, PI14/00891, PI14/01687, PI16/1288, and PI17/00663; Miguel Servet-European Regional Development Fund CP11/00178, CP15/00025, and MSII16/00051); Generalitat Valenciana: FISABIO (UGP 15-230, UGP-15-244, and UGP-15-249); and the Alicia Koplowitz Foundation (2017); Instituto de Salud Carlos III through the projects "CP14/00108 and PI16/00261" (Co-funded by European Regional Development Fund "A way to make Europe"). Jordi Julvez holds the Miguel Servet-II contract (CPII19/00015) awarded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (co-funded by the European Social Fund "Investing in your future").

Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Red INMA G03/176, CB06/02/0041), (FIS-PI13/2429, PI041436, PI042018, PI06/0867, PI07/0252, PI08/1151, PI09/02311, y FIS-FEDER 03/1615, 04/1509, 04/1112, 04/1931, 05/1079, 05/1052, 06/1213, 07/0314, 09/02647, y MS13/00054), Generalitat de Catalunya-CIRIT 1999SGR 00241, Conselleria de Sanitat, Generalitat Valenciana, Departamento de Salud del Gobierno Vasco (2005111093 y 2009111069), Gobierno Provincial de Guipúzcoa (DFG06/004 and DFG08/001), Obra Social Cajastur, Universidad de Oviedo, European Union Commission (QLK4-1999-01422, QLK4-2002-00603 and CONTAMED FP7-ENV-212502), Consejería de Salud de la Junta de Andalucía (183/07), y Fundació Roger Torné.