Relation between Mental Health Status and Psychosocial Stressors among Pregnant and Puerperium Women in Japan: From the Perspective of Working Status

Mental health problems during pregnancy and postpartum periods are one of the alarming health issues among women in Japan. This study analyzed data on the Japanese version of the Kessler 6 (K6), specific psychosocial stressors, and working status of pregnant and puerperium women (n=1126) from respondents in the Comprehensive Survey of People’s Living Conditions (CSPLC) conducted in 2007 by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Japan. Multiple logistic analyses showed the significant associations between mental health and psychosocial stressors: “family relationship,” “pregnancy and birth,” and “incomes/ family budgets/ debts”, regardless of “employed” or “unemployed”. After stratified by working status, whereas “one’s job” stressor had an association with mental health only for employed females, stressors for “one’s disease/long -term care” and “housework” had associations only for unemployed ones. For employed women, the primary factor for mental health was “family relationship” stressor. Although mental health status measured by K6 was not different between employed or unemployed female population, primary stressors related mental health was revealed to differ with working status. Especially, “family relationship” stressor was the highest risk factor of mental health in employed women. More importantly, the results provided evidence on the differences in associations between mental health and specific psychosocial stressors by working status. Psychosocial risk assessments and interventions on working status among pregnant and puerperium women should be imperative to pay attention for social politics.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijphs.v1i2.80

Relation Between Mental Health Status and Psychosocial Stressors Among Pregnant and Puerperium Women in Japan - From the Perspective of Working Status-

Background Mental health problems during pregnancy and postpartum periods are one of the alarming health issues among women in Japan. Many studies have reported that psychosocial risk factors could be correlated with maternal mental health status. Although increased numbers of women who are employed during the pregnancy and postpartum periods have been observed, it is unclear about the link between mental health and psychosocial stressors in terms of working status during pregnancy and postpartum periods. Therefore, this study examined difference in mental health status and the association between mental health and psychosocial stressors by working status amongpregnant and puerperium women, using nationally representative data in Japan. Methods This study analyzed data on the Japanese version of the Kessler 6 (K6), specific psychosocial stressors, and working status of pregnant and puerperium women (n=1126) from respondents in the Comprehensive Survey of Peoples Living Conditions (CSPLC) conducted in 2007 by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Japan.. The univariate logistic regression analysis and a forward multiple regression analysis were used to examine K6 and related factors including specific psychosocial stressors for working status (employedand unemployed).Results Those who scored five or higher in K6 accounted for 33.2% of 1126 respondents, and mental health had no significant association with working status among pregnant and puerperium women. Multiple logistic analyses showed the significant associations between mental health and psychosocial stressors: family relationship, pregnancy and birth, andincomes/ family budgets/ debts,regardless of employed or unemployed. After stratified by working status, whereas ones job stressor had an association with mental health only for employed females, stressors forones disease/long -term care and housework had associations only for unemployed ones. For employed women, the primary factor for mental health wasfamily relationship stressor. Conclusion Although mental health status measured by K6 was not different between employed or unemployed female population, primary stressors related mental health was revealed to differ with working status. Especially, family relationship stressor was the highest risk factor of mental health in employed women. More importantly, the results provided evidence on the differences in associations between mental health and specific psychosocial stressors by working status. Psychosocial risk assessments and interventions on working status among pregnant and puerperium women should be imperative to pay attention for social politics

Exercise or sports in midlife and healthy life expectancy: an ecological study in all prefectures in Japan

BackgroundWith the increase of overall life expectancy in Japan, effective and beneficial lifestyle approaches and practices are crucial for individuals to have a long, productive and healthy life. Although previous studies suggest that exercise or sports, especially when performed with others, from midlife level have a positive impact on enhancing healthy life expectancy, there is paucity of information regarding these contexts and possible associations. The present study intends to clarify the relationship between engagement in exercise or sports among middle-aged persons and healthy life expectancy through an ecological study in all prefectures in Japan.MethodsWe tabulated (1) the ratios of middle-aged individuals engaged in exercise or sports and (2) the different methods by which they are engaged in exercise or sports for each prefecture by using data from the 2005–2010 Longitudinal Survey of Middle-aged and Elderly Persons by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan. Weighted multiple linear regression analyses were performed by sex, using healthy life expectancy in 2010 of each prefecture calculated by Hashimoto (2013) as a criterion variable; indices of (1) and (2) of each year as explanatory variables; and age, living conditions, employment, and chronic diseases as adjusted variables.ResultsFor middle-aged males, the ratio of those engaged in exercise or sports in each year from 2005 to 2010 was positively correlated with healthy life expectancy; this relationship was found in the ratio of middle-aged engaging in exercise or sports “with families or friends”. For females, such a relationship could only be found in the ratio of middle-aged females engaged in exercise or sports in 2008, and those engaging in exercise or sports “with families or friends” in 2006, 2008 and 2010.ConclusionPrefectures with a higher ratio of middle-aged individuals engaging in exercise or sports, especially when done with families or friends, have longer healthy life expectancies. This was particularly evident for males. Thus, exercise or sports with families or friends in midlife seems to be more effective in promoting healthy life expectancy for males than females in Japan

Integrating linkage and radiation hybrid mapping data for bovine chromosome 15

BACKGROUND: Bovine chromosome (BTA) 15 contains a quantitative trait loci (QTL) for meat tenderness, as well as several breaks in synteny with human chromosome (HSA) 11. Both linkage and radiation hybrid (RH) maps of BTA 15 are available, but the linkage map lacks gene-specific markers needed to identify genes underlying the QTL, and the gene-rich RH map lacks associations with marker genotypes needed to define the QTL. Integrating the maps will provide information to further explore the QTL as well as refine the comparative map between BTA 15 and HSA 11. A recently developed approach to integrating linkage and RH maps uses both linkage and RH data to resolve a consensus marker order, rather than aligning independently constructed maps. Automated map construction procedures employing this maximum-likelihood approach were developed to integrate BTA RH and linkage data, and establish comparative positions of BTA 15 markers with HSA 11 homologs. RESULTS: The integrated BTA 15 map represents 145 markers; 42 shared by both data sets, 36 unique to the linkage data and 67 unique to RH data. Sequence alignment yielded comparative positions for 77 bovine markers with homologs on HSA 11. The map covers approximately 32% of HSA 11 sequence in five segments of conserved synteny, another 15% of HSA 11 is shared with BTA 29. Bovine and human order are consistent in portions of the syntenic segments, but some rearrangement is apparent. Comparative positions of gene markers near the meat tenderness QTL indicate the region includes separate segments of HSA 11. The two microsatellite markers flanking the QTL peak are between defined syntenic segments. CONCLUSIONS: Combining data to construct an integrated map not only consolidates information from different sources onto a single map, but information contributed from each data set increases the accuracy of the map. Comparison of bovine maps with well annotated human sequence can provide useful information about genes near mapped bovine markers, but bovine gene order may be different than human. Procedures to connect genetic and physical mapping data, build integrated maps for livestock species, and connect those maps to more fully annotated sequence can be automated, facilitating the maintenance of up-to-date maps, and providing a valuable tool to further explore genetic variation in livestock

Elevated fibroblast growth factor signaling is critical for the pathogenesis of the dwarfism in Evc2/Limbin mutant mice

Ellis-van Creveld (EvC) syndrome is a skeletal dysplasia, characterized by short limbs, postaxial polydactyly, and dental abnormalities. EvC syndrome is also categorized as a ciliopathy because of ciliary localization of proteins encoded by the two causative genes, EVC and EVC2 (aka LIMBIN). While recent studies demonstrated important roles for EVC/EVC2 in Hedgehog signaling, there is still little known about the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the skeletal dysplasia features of EvC patients, and in particular why limb development is affected, but not other aspects of organogenesis that also require Hedgehog signaling. In this report, we comprehensively analyze limb skeletogenesis in Evc2 mutant mice and in cell and tissue cultures derived from these mice. Both in vivo and in vitro data demonstrate elevated Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) signaling in Evc2 mutant growth plates, in addition to compromised but not abrogated Hedgehog-PTHrP feedback loop. Elevation of FGF signaling, mainly due to increased Fgf18 expression upon inactivation of Evc2 in the perichondrium, critically contributes to the pathogenesis of limb dwarfism. The limb dwarfism phenotype is partially rescued by inactivation of one allele of Fgf18 in the Evc2 mutant mice. Taken together, our data uncover a novel pathogenic mechanism to understand limb dwarfism in patients with Ellis-van Creveld syndrome

Combined analysis of single cell RNA-Seq and ATAC-Seq data reveals putative regulatory toggles operating in native and iPS-derived retina.

We report the generation and analysis of single-cell RNA-Seq data (> 38,000 cells) from native and iPSC-derived murine retina at four matched developmental stages spanning the emergence of the major retinal cell types. We combine information from temporal sampling, visualization of 3D UMAP manifolds, pseudo-time and RNA velocity analyses, to show that iPSC-derived 3D retinal aggregates broadly recapitulate the native developmental trajectories. However, we show relaxation of spatial and temporal transcriptome control, premature emergence and dominance of photoreceptor precursor cells, and susceptibility of dynamically regulated pathways and transcription factors to culture conditions in iPSC-derived retina. We generate bulk ATAC-Seq data for native and iPSC-derived murine retina identifying ~125,000 peaks. We combine single-cell RNA-Seq with ATAC-Seq information and obtain evidence that approximately half the transcription factors that are dynamically regulated during retinal development may act as repressors rather than activators. We propose that sets of activators and repressors with cell-type specific expression constitute regulatory toggles that lock cells in distinct transcriptome states underlying differentiation. We provide evidence supporting our hypothesis from the analysis of publicly available single-cell ATAC-Seq data for adult mouse retina. We identify subtle but noteworthy differences in the operation of such toggles between native and iPSC-derived retina particularly for the Etv1, Etv5, Hes1 and Zbtb7a group of transcription factors

Positional cloning of the gene LIMBIN responsible for bovine chondrodysplastic dwarfism

Chondrodysplastic dwarfism in Japanese brown cattle is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by short limbs. Previously, we mapped the locus responsible for the disease on the distal end of bovine chromosome 6. Here, we narrowed the critical region to ≈2 cM by using linkage analysis, constructed a BAC and YAC contig covering this region, and identified a gene, LIMBIN (LBN), that possessed disease-specific mutations in the affected calves. One mutation was a single nucleotide substitution leading to an activation of a cryptic splicing donor site and the other was a one-base deletion resulting in a frameshift mutation. Strong expression of the Lbn gene was observed in limb buds of developing mouse embryos and in proliferating chondrocytes and bone-forming osteoblasts in long bones. These findings indicate that LBN is responsible for bovine chondrodysplastic dwarfism and has a critical role in a skeletal development

Associations between Circulating IGF-1 Concentrations, Disease Status and the Leukocyte Transcriptome in Early Lactation Dairy Cows

Publication history: Accepted - 19 November 2021; Published - 25 November 2021.Peripartum dairy cows commonly experience negative energy balance (EB) and immunosuppression together with high incidences of infectious and metabolic disease. This study investigated mechanisms linking EB status with immune defense in early lactation. Data were collected from multiparous Holstein cows from six herds and leukocyte transcriptomes were analyzed using RNA sequencing. Global gene expression was related to circulating IGF-1 (as a biomarker for EB) by subdividing animals into three groups, defined as IGF-1 LOW (100 ng/mL, n = 43) at 14 ± 4 days in milk (DIM). Differentially expressed genes between groups were identified using CLC Genomics Workbench V21, followed by cluster and KEGG pathway analysis, focusing on the comparison between LOW and HIGH IGF-1 cows. LOW cows were older and had significantly lower dry matter intakes and EB values, whereas HIGH cows produced more milk. During the first 35 DIM, 63% of LOW cows had more than one health problem vs. 26% HIGH cows, including more with clinical mastitis and uterine infections. Gene expression analysis indicated that leukocytes in LOW cows switched energy metabolism from oxidative phosphorylation to aerobic glycolysis (PGM, LDH, and PDK4). Many antimicrobial peptides were up-regulated in LOW cows (e.g., PTX3, DMBT1, S100A8, and S100A9) together with genes associated with inflammation, platelet activation and the complement cascade. HIGH cows had greater expression of genes regulating T and B cell function and the cytoskeleton. Overall, results suggested an ongoing cycle of poor EB and higher infection rates in LOW IGF-1 cows which was reflected in altered leukocyte functionality and reduced milk production.This project received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (Brussels, Belgium) for research, technological development, and demonstration under grant agreement no. 61368

A 12 kb multi-allelic copy number variation encompassing a GC gene enhancer is associated with mastitis resistance in dairy cattle.

Clinical mastitis (CM) is an inflammatory disease occurring in the mammary glands of lactating cows. CM is under genetic control, and a prominent CM resistance QTL located on chromosome 6 was reported in various dairy cattle breeds. Nevertheless, the biological mechanism underpinning this QTL has been lacking. Herein, we mapped, fine-mapped, and discovered the putative causal variant underlying this CM resistance QTL in the Dutch dairy cattle population. We identified a ~12 kb multi-allelic copy number variant (CNV), that is in perfect linkage disequilibrium with a lead SNP, as a promising candidate variant. By implementing a fine-mapping and through expression QTL mapping, we showed that the group-specific component gene (GC), a gene encoding a vitamin D binding protein, is an excellent candidate causal gene for the QTL. The multiplicated alleles are associated with increased GC expression and low CM resistance. Ample evidence from functional genomics data supports the presence of an enhancer within this CNV, which would exert cis-regulatory effect on GC. We observed that strong positive selection swept the region near the CNV, and haplotypes associated with the multiplicated allele were strongly selected for. Moreover, the multiplicated allele showed pleiotropic effects for increased milk yield and reduced fertility, hinting that a shared underlying biology for these effects may revolve around the vitamin D pathway. These findings together suggest a putative causal variant of a CM resistance QTL, where a cis-regulatory element located within a CNV can alter gene expression and affect multiple economically important traits

High-resolution structural variants catalogue in a large-scale whole genome sequenced bovine family cohort data.

peer reviewed[en] BACKGROUND: Structural variants (SVs) are chromosomal segments that differ between genomes, such as deletions, duplications, insertions, inversions and translocations. The genomics revolution enabled the discovery of sub-microscopic SVs via array and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data, paving the way to unravel the functional impact of SVs. Recent human expression QTL mapping studies demonstrated that SVs play a disproportionally large role in altering gene expression, underlining the importance of including SVs in genetic analyses. Therefore, this study aimed to generate and explore a high-quality bovine SV catalogue exploiting a unique cattle family cohort data (total 266 samples, forming 127 trios). RESULTS: We curated 13,731 SVs segregating in the population, consisting of 12,201 deletions, 1,509 duplications, and 21 multi-allelic CNVs (> 50-bp). Of these, we validated a subset of copy number variants (CNVs) utilising a direct genotyping approach in an independent cohort, indicating that at least 62% of the CNVs are true variants, segregating in the population. Among gene-disrupting SVs, we prioritised two likely high impact duplications, encompassing ORM1 and POPDC3 genes, respectively. Liver expression QTL mapping results revealed that these duplications are likely causing altered gene expression, confirming the functional importance of SVs. Although most of the accurately genotyped CNVs are tagged by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) ascertained in WGS data, most CNVs were not captured by individual SNPs obtained from a 50K genotyping array. CONCLUSION: We generated a high-quality SV catalogue exploiting unique whole genome sequenced bovine family cohort data. Two high impact duplications upregulating the ORM1 and POPDC3 are putative candidates for postpartum feed intake and hoof health traits, thus warranting further investigation. Generally, CNVs were in low LD with SNPs on the 50K array. Hence, it remains crucial to incorporate CNVs via means other than tagging SNPs, such as investigation of tagging haplotypes, direct imputation of CNVs, or direct genotyping as done in the current study. The SV catalogue and the custom genotyping array generated in the current study will serve as valuable resources accelerating utilisation of full spectrum of genetic variants in bovine genomes.Seventh Framework ProgrammeH202