Maternal postnatal depression and child growth: a European cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous studies have reported postpartum depression to be associated with both positive and negative effects on early infant growth. This study examined the hypothesis that maternal postnatal depression may be a risk factor for later child growth faltering or overweight.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 929 women and their children participating in a European multicenter study were included at a median age of 14 days. Mothers completed the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale (EPDS) at 2, 3 and 6 months after delivery. EPDS scores of 13 and above at any time were defined as maternal depression. Weight, length, triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses were measured, and body mass index (BMI) were calculated when the children were two years old and converted to standard deviation scores based on the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Z-scores for weight-for-length at inclusion of infants of mothers with high EPDS scores (-0.55, SD 0.74) were lower than of those with normal scores (-0.36, SD 0.74; p = 0.013). BMI at age 24 months did not differ in the high (16.3 kg/m2, SD 1.3) and in the normal EPDS groups (16.2 kg/m2, SD 1.3; p = 0.48). All other anthropometric indices also did not differ between groups, with no change by multivariate adjustment.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We conclude that a high maternal postnatal depression score does not have any major effects on offspring growth in high income countries.</p

COVID-19 symptoms at hospital admission vary with age and sex: results from the ISARIC prospective multinational observational study

Background: The ISARIC prospective multinational observational study is the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We present relationships of age, sex, and nationality to presenting symptoms. Methods: International, prospective observational study of 60 109 hospitalized symptomatic patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 recruited from 43 countries between 30 January and 3 August 2020. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate relationships of age and sex to published COVID-19 case definitions and the most commonly reported symptoms. Results: ‘Typical’ symptoms of fever (69%), cough (68%) and shortness of breath (66%) were the most commonly reported. 92% of patients experienced at least one of these. Prevalence of typical symptoms was greatest in 30- to 60-year-olds (respectively 80, 79, 69%; at least one 95%). They were reported less frequently in children (≤ 18 years: 69, 48, 23; 85%), older adults (≥ 70 years: 61, 62, 65; 90%), and women (66, 66, 64; 90%; vs. men 71, 70, 67; 93%, each P &lt; 0.001). The most common atypical presentations under 60 years of age were nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain, and over 60 years was confusion. Regression models showed significant differences in symptoms with sex, age and country. Interpretation: This international collaboration has allowed us to report reliable symptom data from the largest cohort of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Adults over 60 and children admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are less likely to present with typical symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are common atypical presentations under 30 years. Confusion is a frequent atypical presentation of COVID-19 in adults over 60 years. Women are less likely to experience typical symptoms than men

Control of Actin Assembly by the WH2 Domains and Their Multifunctional Tandem Repeats in Spire and Cordon-Bleu

International audienc

Cordon-Bleu Uses WH2 Domains as Multifunctional Dynamizers of Actin Filament Assembly

International audienc

Endocrine and Metabolic Biomarkers Predicting Early Childhood Obesity Risk

There is growing evidence of long-term effects of early dietary intervention in infancy on later obesity risk. Many studies showed reduced risk of obesity with breastfeeding in infancy, which could be related to the reduced protein intake with human milk compared to infant formula. In a randomized controlled trial (Childhood Obesity Project), we were able to show that infant formula with reduced protein content results in lower BMI both at 2 and 6 years. These effects seem to be mediated mainly by branched-chain amino acids which stimulate the insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 axis and insulin release. In this trial, we also showed an influence of high-protein diet on larger kidney size, which seems to be partly explained by a significant effect of free IGF-1 on kidney volume. The IGF-1 axis was shown to regulate early growth, adipose tissue differentiation and early adipogenesis in animals and in humans. Leptin and adiponectin can also be regarded as important endocrine regulators of obesity. These markers were tested in observational studies. Leptin seems to be closely correlated with BMI but changes in adiponectin require further exploration. Still, there is a lack of good data or some results are contradictory to indicate the role of either leptin or adiponectin in infancy for determining later obesity risk.0SCOPUS: ar.kinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Effects of Early Nutrition on the Infant Metabolome

Breastfeeding induces a different metabolic and endocrine response than feeding conventional infant formula, and it has also been associated with slower weight gain and reduced disease risk in later life. The underlying programming mechanisms remain to be explored. Breastfeeding has been reported to induce lower levels of insulin, insulin-like growth factor-1 and some amino acids (AAs) than formula feeding. In the Childhood Obesity Project (CHOP), infants fed a conventional protein-rich formula had a higher BMI at 2 and 6 years than those fed a protein-reduced formula. At 6 months, higher protein intakes induced increased plasma concentrations of branched-chain AAs (BCAAs) and their oxidation products, short-chain acylcarnitines. With increasing BCAA levels, these short-chain acylcarnitines increased proportionally only until a break point was reached, after which BCAAs seemed to escape their degradation. The resulting marked elevation in BCAA levels with high-protein (HP) intakes appears to contribute to increased insulin levels and to affect β-oxidation of fatty acids. The ratios of long-chain acylcarnitines to free carnitine decreased in infants who received a HP formula, which indicates a reduced initiation of β-oxidation. We conclude that HP intakes inducing high BCAA plasma levels may inhibit fat oxidation and thereby enhance body fat deposition and adiposity.0SCOPUS: ar.kinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Rapid growth and childhood obesity are strongly associated with LysoPC(14:0)

Background: Despite the growing interest in the early-origins- of-later-disease hypothesis, little is known about the metabolic underpinnings linking infant weight gain and childhood obesity.0SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Maternal smoking during pregnancy and DNA-methylation in children at age 5.5 years: Epigenome-wide-analysis in the European Childhood Obesity Project (CHOP)-study

Mounting evidence links prenatal exposure to maternal tobacco smoking with disruption of DNA methylation (DNAm) profile in the blood of infants. However, data on the postnatal stability of such DNAm signatures in childhood, as assessed by Epigenome Wide Association Studies (EWAS), are scarce. Objectives of this study were to investigate DNAm signatures associated with in utero tobacco smoke exposure beyond the 12th week of gestation in whole blood of children at age 5.5 years, to replicate previous findings in young European and American children and to assess their biological role by exploring databases and enrichment analysis. DNA methylation was measured in blood of 366 children of the multicentre European Childhood Obesity Project Study using the Illumina Infinium HM450 Beadchip (HM450K). An EWAS was conducted using linear regression of methylation values at each CpG site against in utero smoke exposure, adjusted for study characteristics, biological and technical effects. Methylation levels at five HM450K probes in MYO1G (cg12803068, cg22132788, cg19089201), CNTNAP2 (cg25949550), and FRMD4A (cg11813497) showed differential methylation that reached epigenome-wide significance according to the false-discovery-rate (FDR) criteria (q-value<0.05). Whereas cg25949550 showed decreased methylation (-2% DNAm β-value), increased methylation was observed for the other probes (9%: cg12803068; 5%: cg22132788; 4%: cg19089201 and 4%: cg11813497) in exposed relative to non-exposed subjects. This study thus replicates previous findings in children ages 3 to 5, 7 and 17 and confirms the postnatal stability of MYO1G, CNTNAP2 and FRMD4A differential methylation. The role of this differential methylation in mediating childhood phenotypes, previously associated with maternal smoking, requires further investigation.0SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe