Some previous studies have suggested that home pesticide exposure before birth and during a child's early years may increase the risk of childhood leukemia. To further investigate this, we pooled ...individual level data from 12 case–control studies in the Childhood Leukemia International Consortium. Exposure data were harmonized into compatible formats. Pooled analyses were undertaken using multivariable unconditional logistic regression. The odds ratio (ORs) for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) associated with any pesticide exposure shortly before conception, during pregnancy and after birth were 1.39 (95% confidence interval CI: 1.25, 1.55) (using 2,785 cases and 3,635 controls), 1.43 (95% CI: 1.32, 1.54) (5,055 cases and 7,370 controls) and 1.36 (95% CI: 1.23, 1.51) (4,162 cases and 5,179 controls), respectively. Corresponding ORs for risk of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were 1.49 (95% CI: 1.02, 2.16) (173 cases and 1,789 controls), 1.55 (95% CI: 1.21, 1.99) (344 cases and 4,666 controls) and 1.08 (95% CI: 0.76, 1.53) (198 cases and 2,655 controls), respectively. There was little difference by type of pesticide used. The relative similarity in ORs between leukemia types, time periods and pesticide types may be explained by similar exposure patterns and effects across the time periods in ALL and AML, participants' exposure to multiple pesticides, or recall bias. Although some recall bias is likely, until a better study design can be found to investigate the associations between home pesticide use and childhood leukemia in an equally large sample, it would appear prudent to limit the use of home pesticides before and during pregnancy, and during childhood.
What's new?
Some studies have suggested that early pesticide exposure may increase the risk of childhood leukemia. In this investigation, the authors pooled individual level data from twelve previous case‐control studies to further examine this question. They found an association between home pesticide exposure before birth and during a child's early years and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and with exposure before birth and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). These results indicate that it would be prudent for parents to limit the use of home pesticides before and after a child's birth.
Increasing evidence suggests that breastfeeding may protect from childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, most studies have limited their analyses to ...any breastfeeding, and only a few data have examined exclusive breastfeeding, or other exposures such as formula milk. We performed pooled analyses and individual participant data metaanalyses of data from 16 studies (N = 17 189 controls; N = 10 782 ALL and N = 1690 AML cases) from the Childhood Leukemia International Consortium (CLIC) to characterize the associations of breastfeeding duration with ALL and AML, as well as exclusive breastfeeding duration and age at introduction to formula with ALL. In unconditional multivariable logistic regression analyses of pooled data, we observed decreased odds of ALL among children breastfed 4 to 6 months (0.88, 95% CI 0.81‐0.96) or 7 to 12 months (OR 0.85, 0.79‐0.92). We observed a similar inverse association between breastfeeding ≥4 months and AML (0.82, 95% CI 0.71‐0.95). Odds of ALL were reduced among children exclusively breastfed 4 to 6 months (OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.63‐0.85) or 7 to 12 months (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.53‐0.92). Random effects metaanalyses produced similar estimates, and findings were unchanged in sensitivity analyses adjusted for race/ethnicity or mode of delivery, restricted to children diagnosed ≥1 year of age or diagnosed with B‐ALL. Our pooled analyses indicate that longer breastfeeding is associated with decreased odds of ALL and AML. Few risk factors for ALL and AML have been described, therefore our findings highlight the need to promote breastfeeding for leukemia prevention.
What's new?
Breastfeeding may protect against childhood acute lymphoblastic and acute myeloid leukemia (ALL/AML), but few studies have examined exclusive breastfeeding or interactions with other early life exposures. In this international pooled analysis, breastfeeding was associated with reduced risk of ALL/AML. Risk of ALL was lowest among exclusively‐breastfed children or breastfed children who also attended day care. The results indicate a dose‐response relationship between breastfeeding and leukemia and highlight the potentially complex joint effects of early life exposures. Few risk factors for ALL and AML have been identified, and the findings support the need to promote breastfeeding for leukemia prevention.
Highlights • We investigated if indices of prolonged lifetime exposure to endogenous female sex hormones are associated with dementia and cognitive function. • Age at menopause is not associated with ...risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. • Increasing age at menopause and reproductive period duration are possibly associated with better cognitive performance and delayed cognitive decline. • High heterogeneity indicates published literature limitations on the topic. • Independent of female hormones mechanisms potentially apply for the female preponderance in dementia.
Cone photoreceptor cell death in inherited retinal diseases, such as Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), leads to the loss of high acuity and color vision and, ultimately to blindness. In RP, a vast number of ...mutations perturb the structure and function of rod photoreceptors, while cones remain initially unaffected. Extensive rod loss in advanced stages of the disease triggers cone death by a mechanism that is still largely unknown. Here, we show that secondary cone cell death in animal models for RP is associated with increased activity of histone deacetylates (HDACs). A single intravitreal injection of an HDAC inhibitor at late stages of the disease, when the majority of rods have already degenerated, was sufficient to delay cone death and support long-term cone survival in two mouse models for RP, affected by mutations in the phosphodiesterase 6b gene. Moreover, the surviving cones remained light-sensitive, leading to an improvement in visual function. RNA-seq analysis of protected cones demonstrated that HDAC inhibition initiated multi-level protection via regulation of different pro-survival pathways, including MAPK, PI3K-Akt, and autophagy. This study suggests a unique opportunity for targeted pharmacological protection of secondary dying cones by HDAC inhibition and creates hope to maintain vision in RP patients even in advanced disease stages.
Abstract
Introduction: It has been postulated that nutrition may influence the risk for cutaneous melanoma (CM); therefore, we aimed to assess the associations of food groups and individual nutrient ...intakes with CM in a Greek population. Methods: In this case-control study, 151 patients with histologically confirmed CM, newly diagnosed and treated in the Oncology Department of the “Laikon” University Hospital (Athens, Greece), and 151 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals residing in the Athens metropolitan area, recruited among participants for routine health examinations, were included. All participants completed a questionnaire comprising anthropometric measurements, sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health-related variables. A validated, semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire was used to assess average consumption of 136 food items during the 12 months preceding the onset of disease. Multivariate conditional regression models were used to derive odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) regarding the association of nine food groups and seven macronutrients with CM. Results: Statistically significant positive associations with CM were found with higher energy intake (OR: 1.67, 95% CI: 1.22–2.30) and intake of saturated fatty acids (OR: 2.28, 95% CI: 1.00–5.28), after adjusting for sun sensitivity, major depression history, and alcohol intake. Inverse associations with higher intake of milk and dairy products (OR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.48–0.88), fruits (OR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.51–0.90), added lipids (OR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.47–0.91), and sugars and syrups (OR: 0.70, 95% CI: 0.53–0.93) were also observed. Conclusions: Beyond intrinsic risk factors, our results support associations of CM with multiple food groups and nutrients; if confirmed by prospective studies, these findings can add further knowledge about this fatal cancer.
The association between preeclampsia and arterial stiffness Hausvater, Anaïs; Giannone, Tania; Sandoval, Yessica-Haydee Gomez ...
Journal of hypertension,
2012-January, 2012-Jan, 2012-01-00, 20120101, Letnik:
30, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library to investigate the association between preeclampsia and arterial stiffness. Twenty-three relevant ...studies were included. A significant increase in all arterial stiffness indices combined was observed in women with preeclampsia vs. women with normotensive pregnancies standardized mean difference 1.62, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.73–2.50; carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and augmentation index (AIx) were also significantly increased (weighted mean difference, WMDcfPWV 1.04, 95% CI 0.34–1.74; WMDAIx 15.10, 95% CI 5.08–25.11), whereas carotid–radial PWV (crPWV) increase did not reach significance (WMDcrPWV 0.99, 95% CI −0.07 to 2.05). Significant increases in arterial stiffness measurements were noted in women with preeclampsia compared with those with gestational hypertension. Arterial stiffness measurements may also be useful in predicting preeclampsia and may play a role in the increased risk of future cardiovascular complications seen in women with a history of preeclampsia.
Obstructive sleep apnea is a prevalent disease that is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, particularly due to cardiovascular disease. An emerging cardiovascular risk factor, ...arterial stiffness, may also be involved in the cardiovascular complications of obstructive sleep apnea. The purpose of this review was to summarize the current literature regarding the effect of obstructive sleep apnea on arterial stiffness. We conducted a systematic literature review using PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library. We identified 24 studies that met search criteria investigating the effect of obstructive sleep apnea on arterial stiffness. Arterial stiffness was found to be increased in obstructive sleep apnea patients compared with controls or increased in severe compared with mild sleep apnea. In some studies, a positive correlation was identified between the degree of arterial stiffness and sleep apnea severity. In the two randomized, controlled trials and the two nonrandomized trials identified, treatment of obstructive sleep apnea with continuous positive airway pressure led to significant decreases in arterial stiffness. Obstructive sleep apnea appears to have an independent effect on arterial stiffness, which may be one of the mechanisms accounting for sleep apnea-associated cardiovascular risk.
Parental occupational exposures around conception (father) or during pregnancy (mother) have been hypothesized as potential predisposing factors for childhood leukaemia. We investigated parental ...exposure to several known occupational carcinogens and childhood leukaemia risk. We conducted a pooled analysis using case-control data from four European countries (3362 childhood leukemia cases and 6268 controls). Parental occupational exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), diesel engine exhaust (DEE), chromium, nickel, crystalline silica, and asbestos were assessed by a general population job-exposure matrix. We estimated odd ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using unconditional logistic regression models for all childhood leukaemia combined, by leukaemia type (ALL and AML) and by ALL subtype (B-lineage and T-lineage). We found an association between high paternal occupational exposure to crystalline silica and childhood ALL (OR 2.20, CI 1.60–3.01) with increasing trend from no exposure to high exposure (P = <0.001), and also for AML (OR 2.03, CI 1.04–3.97; P for trend = 0.008). ORs were similar for B- and T-lineage ALL. For ALL, ORs were also slightly elevated with wide confidence intervals for high paternal occupational exposure to chromium (OR 1.23, CI 0.77–1.96), and DEE (OR 1.21, CI 0.82–1.77). No associations were observed for paternal exposures to nickel, PAH and asbestos. For maternal occupational exposure we found several slightly elevated odds ratios but mostly with very wide confidence intervals due to low numbers of exposed mothers. This is a first study suggesting an association between fathers’ occupational exposure to crystalline silica and an increased risk of childhood leukaemia in their offspring. As this association was driven by certain occupations (field crop farmers and miners) where other potentially relevant exposures like pesticides and radon may also occur, more research is needed to confirm our findings of an association with crystalline silica, and if so, mechanistic studies to understand the pathways.
In this study, an inquiry-based sequence was designed, developed and implemented using facets of flipped classroom and aspects of inquiry learning using the ADDIE model. The sequence intends to ...promote the students’ scientific literacy. The aim of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of specially designed inquiry-based online worksheets (e-WS) to actively engage students in the design of unconfounded experiments by applying the Control of Variables Strategy (CVS). Second-year senior high school (11th grade) students participated in an intervention in which facets of flipped classroom approach with asynchronous and synchronous distance learning sessions were adopted, during the COVID-19 lockdown. Results show that the flipped classroom approach with synchronous and asynchronous sessions was acceptable and adoptable by the students; the existence of probe questions in e-WS, combined with explicit reference to inquiry procedure enhanced students’ awareness of scientific practice and on CVS, while at the end of the intervention, students were capable of applying the CVS in the design of unconfounded experiments.
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