The association between prenatal famine, DNA methylation and mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Undernutrition in pregnant women is an unfavorable environmental condition that can affect the intrauterine development via epigenetic mechanisms and thus have long-lasting detrimental consequences for the mental health of the offspring later in life. One epigenetic mechanism that has been associated with mental disorders and undernutrition is alterations in DNA methylation. The effect of prenatal undernutrition on the mental health of adult offspring can be analyzed through quasi-experimental studies such as famine studies. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aims to analyze the association between prenatal famine exposure, DNA methylation, and mental disorders in adult offspring. We further investigate whether altered DNA methylation as a result of prenatal famine exposure is prospectively linked to mental disorders. Methods We conducted a systematic search of the databases PubMed and PsycINFO to identify relevant records up to September 2022 on offspring whose mothers experienced famine directly before and/or during pregnancy, examining the impact of prenatal famine exposure on the offspring’s DNA methylation and/or mental disorders or symptoms. Results The systematic review showed that adults who were prenatally exposed to famine had an increased risk of schizophrenia and depression. Several studies reported an association between prenatal famine exposure and hyper- or hypomethylation of specific genes. The largest number of studies reported differences in DNA methylation of the IGF2 gene. Altered DNA methylation of the DUSP22 gene mediated the association between prenatal famine exposure and schizophrenia in adult offspring. Meta-analysis confirmed the increased risk of schizophrenia following prenatal famine exposure. For DNA methylation, meta-analysis was not suitable due to different microarrays/data processing approaches and/or unavailable data. Conclusion Prenatal famine exposure is associated with an increased risk of mental disorders and DNA methylation changes. The findings suggest that changes in DNA methylation of genes involved in neuronal, neuroendocrine, and immune processes may be a mechanism that promotes the development of mental disorders such as schizophrenia and depression in adult offspring. Such findings are crucial given that undernutrition has risen worldwide, increasing the risk of famine and thus also of negative effects on mental health

Effects of improved on-farm crop storage on perceived stress and perceived coping in pregnant women-Evidence from a cluster-randomized controlled trial in Kenya

BACKGROUND: Food insecurity can be harmful to pregnant women, as pregnancy is a challenging period with increased maternal nutritional requirements to ensure optimal fetal development and health of the mother. Whether food insecurity negatively affects maternal health may depend on how stressful pregnant women perceive this food insecurity to be and how strongly they believe they can cope with it. In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), pregnant women from smallholder households suffer from food insecurity due to post-harvest losses (PHL), i.e., loss of crops because of inadequate storage. An agricultural intervention that improves crop storage has been shown to reduce food insecurity. However, it remains to be determined whether this agricultural intervention (treatment) has an additional positive effect on pregnant women's perceived stress levels and coping abilities. This study examines whether pregnant women from treatment households experience lower perceived stress levels and higher perceived coping abilities compared to pregnant women from control housholds. METHODS AND FINDINGS: In a randomized controlled trial (RCT), short message service (SMS)-based mobile phone surveys were conducted to assess the causal effect of a food security intervention (improved on-farm storage of maize) on perceived stress and coping in pregnant women from smallholder households. Pregnant women were identified through these monthly surveys by asking whether someone in their household was currently pregnant. The significant results revealed that pregnant women from treatment households experienced more perceived stress but better perceived coping abilities compared to pregnant women from control households. Uncertainty due to lack of experience, this might have contributed to the higher perceived stress, as the women could not easily judge the benefits and risks of the new storage technology. However, the technology itself is a tangible resource which might have empowered the pregnant women to counteract the effects of PHL and thus food insecurity. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that pregnant women from treatment households had higher perceived coping abilities but experienced more perceived stress. More research is needed on how this technology impacts maternal mental health in a broader sense and whether biological mechanisms, such as epigenetics, may underlie this association

Zukunftsbild Hochschullehre 2025

Das Diskussionspapier zur Hochschullehre 2025 zeichnet sich methodisch durch seine partizipative Entstehung aus: In einem der HFDcon 2022 zeitlich vorgelagerten Prozess trafen sich 21 angemeldete Teilnehmer:innen aus dem deutschen Hoch- schulumfeld, um den Wandel der Hochschullehre für das Jahr 2025 zu skizzieren und Thesen für eine neue Denkkultur zu formu- lieren. In mehreren virtuellen Sitzungen wurden zunächst die Ziele des Papiers definiert, Themen geclustert und erste Forderungen ent- wickelt. Innerhalb der folgenden vier Wochen wurde dann – teils in Kleingruppen – kontrovers diskutiert, formuliert und überarbeitet, bis das Papier am 30. Juni 2022 in seiner ersten Fassung auf der Konferenz HFDcon 2022 vorgestellt wurde

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

The association between prenatal famine, DNA methylation and mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background Undernutrition in pregnant women is an unfavorable environmental condition that can affect the intrauterine development via epigenetic mechanisms and thus have long-lasting detrimental consequences for the mental health of the offspring later in life. One epigenetic mechanism that has been associated with mental disorders and undernutrition is alterations in DNA methylation. The effect of prenatal undernutrition on the mental health of adult offspring can be analyzed through quasi-experimental studies such as famine studies. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aims to analyze the association between prenatal famine exposure, DNA methylation, and mental disorders in adult offspring. We further investigate whether altered DNA methylation as a result of prenatal famine exposure is prospectively linked to mental disorders. Methods We conducted a systematic search of the databases PubMed and PsycINFO to identify relevant records up to September 2022 on offspring whose mothers experienced famine directly before and/or during pregnancy, examining the impact of prenatal famine exposure on the offspring’s DNA methylation and/or mental disorders or symptoms. Results The systematic review showed that adults who were prenatally exposed to famine had an increased risk of schizophrenia and depression. Several studies reported an association between prenatal famine exposure and hyper- or hypomethylation of specific genes. The largest number of studies reported differences in DNA methylation of the IGF2 gene. Altered DNA methylation of the DUSP22 gene mediated the association between prenatal famine exposure and schizophrenia in adult offspring. Meta-analysis confirmed the increased risk of schizophrenia following prenatal famine exposure. For DNA methylation, meta-analysis was not suitable due to different microarrays/data processing approaches and/or unavailable data. Conclusion Prenatal famine exposure is associated with an increased risk of mental disorders and DNA methylation changes. The findings suggest that changes in DNA methylation of genes involved in neuronal, neuroendocrine, and immune processes may be a mechanism that promotes the development of mental disorders such as schizophrenia and depression in adult offspring. Such findings are crucial given that undernutrition has risen worldwide, increasing the risk of famine and thus also of negative effects on mental health

Effects of improved on-farm crop storage on perceived stress and perceived coping in pregnant women—Evidence from a cluster-randomized controlled trial in Kenya

Background: Food insecurity can be harmful to pregnant women, as pregnancy is a challenging period with increased maternal nutritional requirements to ensure optimal fetal development and health of the mother. Whether food insecurity negatively affects maternal health may depend on how stressful pregnant women perceive this food insecurity to be and how strongly they believe they can cope with it. In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), pregnant women from smallholder households suffer from food insecurity due to post-harvest losses (PHL), i.e., loss of crops because of inadequate storage. An agricultural intervention that improves crop storage has been shown to reduce food insecurity. However, it remains to be determined whether this agricultural intervention (treatment) has an additional positive effect on pregnant women’s perceived stress levels and coping abilities. This study examines whether pregnant women from treatment households experience lower perceived stress levels and higher perceived coping abilities compared to pregnant women from control housholds. Methods and findings: In a randomized controlled trial (RCT), short message service (SMS)-based mobile phone surveys were conducted to assess the causal effect of a food security intervention (improved on-farm storage of maize) on perceived stress and coping in pregnant women from smallholder households. Pregnant women were identified through these monthly surveys by asking whether someone in their household was currently pregnant. The significant results revealed that pregnant women from treatment households experienced more perceived stress but better perceived coping abilities compared to pregnant women from control households. Uncertainty due to lack of experience, this might have contributed to the higher perceived stress, as the women could not easily judge the benefits and risks of the new storage technology. However, the technology itself is a tangible resource which might have empowered the pregnant women to counteract the effects of PHL and thus food insecurity. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that pregnant women from treatment households had higher perceived coping abilities but experienced more perceived stress. More research is needed on how this technology impacts maternal mental health in a broader sense and whether biological mechanisms, such as epigenetics, may underlie this association.ISSN:1932-620

Effect of Antiplatelet Therapy on Survival and Organ Support–Free Days in Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19

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