Project description:ImportanceKawasaki disease is an acute systemic vasculitis that primarily affects infants and young children. No reproducible risk factors have yet been identified, but a possible association between maternal folic acid supplementation and Kawasaki disease has been reported previously.ObjectiveTo investigate the associations of exposure to maternal serum folic acid levels and maternal folic acid supplementation with onset of Kawasaki disease during infancy among offspring.Design, setting, and participantsThis cohort study used data from the Japan Environment and Children's Study, a nationwide birth cohort, which has enrolled children since 2011. This study used the data set released in October 2019, and analysis was performed in January 2023.ExposuresMaternal serum folic acid levels (≥10 ng/mL classified as exposed) during the second and third trimesters and the frequency of maternal folic acid supplementation during the first trimester and during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy (once a week or more was classified as exposed).Main outcomes and measuresThe primary outcome was onset of Kawasaki disease in offspring up to age 12 months. Odds ratios (ORs) for each exposure were estimated, and propensity score-adjusted logistic regression was conducted on the basis of the sets of variables.ResultsThe study population comprised 87 702 children who were followed-up for 12 months. Of these, 336 children developed Kawasaki disease. Mothers who took folic acid supplements (31 275 mothers [35.7%]; mean [SD] age, 32 [5] years) had higher serum folic acid levels than those who did not take supplements. Higher maternal serum folic acid levels were associated with a significantly lower risk of Kawasaki disease in offspring than lower levels (folic acid ≥10 vs <10 ng/mL, 56 of 20 698 children [0.27%] vs 267 of 64 468 children [0.41%]; OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.50-0.92). Children whose mothers took folic acid supplementation during the first trimester had a lower prevalence of Kawasaki disease than children whose mothers did not take folic acid (131 of 39 098 children [0.34%] vs 203 of 48 053 children [0.42%]), although the difference was not statistically significant (OR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.66-1.04). Supplementation during the second and third trimesters was associated with a significantly lower risk of Kawasaki disease compared with no supplementation (94 of 31 275 children [0.30%] vs 242 of 56 427 children [0.43%]; OR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.57-0.94).Conclusions and relevanceIn this cohort study, higher serum folic acid levels (≥10 ng/mL) and maternal folic acid supplementation more than once a week during the second and third trimesters were associated with reduced risk of Kawasaki disease in offspring during infancy.
Project description:To identify risk factors for smoking among pregnant women, and adverse perinatal outcomes among pregnant women. A case-control study of singleton full-term pregnant women who gave birth at a university hospital in Jordan in June 2020. Pregnant women were divided into three groups according to their smoking status, active, passive, and non-smokers. They were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire that included demographic data, current pregnancy history, and neonatal outcomes. Low-level maternal education, unemployment, secondary antenatal care, and having a smoking husband were identified as risk factors for smoke exposure among pregnant women. The risk for cesarean section was ninefold higher in nulliparous smoking women. Women with low family income, those who did not receive information about the hazards of smoking, unemployed passive smoking women, and multiparty raised the risk of neonatal intensive care unit admission among active smoking women. This risk increased in active and passive women with lower levels of education, and inactive smoking women with low family income by 25 times compared to women with a higher level of education. Smoking is associated with adverse perinatal outcomes. Appropriate preventive strategies should address modifiable risk factors for smoking during pregnancy.
Project description:We examined whether genetic risk for mental illness is associated with known perinatal risk factors for offspring mental illness to determine whether gene-environmental correlation might account for the associations of perinatal factors with mental illness. Among 8983 women with 19,733 pregnancies, we found that genetic risk for mental illness was associated with any smoking during pregnancy [attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and overall genetic risk], breast-feeding for less than 1 month (ADHD, depression, and overall genetic risk), experience of intimate partner violence in the year before the birth (depression and overall genetic risk), and pregestational overweight or obesity (bipolar disorder). These results indicate that genetic risk may partly account for the association between perinatal conditions and mental illness in offspring.
Project description:Background and aimsEarly life exposures affect offspring health across the life-course. We aimed to examine whether prevalent perinatal exposures and obstetric complications are independently associated with offspring overweight in adolescence. We then assessed whether shared maternal-offspring pathways drive the association of perinatal exposures with offspring overweight.MethodsUsing data from the Jerusalem Perinatal Study birth cohort, two perinatal scores were constructed: obstetric complications (OC) and prevalent perinatal exposures (PPE) scores. PPE score, generated by principal component analysis, included three primary components. Logistic regressions were used to assess associations of scores with offspring overweight, with and without adjustment for maternal life-course survival.ResultsOC and PPE scores were independently associated with offspring overweight (OROC = 1.15, 95%CI:1.07,1.25; ORPPE1- SEP and lifestyle = 0.85, 95%CI:0.79,0.91; ORPPE2- Maternal body size = 1.20, 95%CI: 1.13,1.28; ORPPE3-Fetal growth = 1.18, 95%CI:1.11,1.26). Maternal survival was associated with offspring overweight (OR = 1.38, 95%CI:1.08,1.76), yet introducing PPE score to the same model attenuated this association (OR = 1.16, 95%CI:0.90, 1.49). When OC score and maternal survival were included in the same model, their associations with offspring overweight remained unchanged.ConclusionsMother-offspring shared factors, captured by maternal life-course survival, underlie the effect of prevalent perinatal exposures on offspring overweight. However, the effect of obstetric complications was independent, highlighting the contribution of additional pathways.
Project description:ObjectiveMaternal psychological stress during pregnancy is a common risk factor for psychiatric disorders in offspring, but little is known about how heterogeneity of stress trajectories during pregnancy affect brain systems and behavioral phenotypes in infancy. This study was designed to address this gap in knowledge.MethodsMaternal anxiety, stress, and depression were assessed at multiple time points during pregnancy in two independent low-risk mother-infant cohorts (N=115 and N=2,156). Trajectories in maternal stress levels in relation to infant negative affect were examined in both cohorts. Neonatal amygdala resting-state functional connectivity MRI was examined in a subset of one cohort (N=60) to explore the potential relationship between maternal stress trajectories and brain systems in infants relevant to negative affect.ResultsFour distinct trajectory clusters, characterized by changing patterns of stress over time, and two magnitude clusters, characterized by severity of stress, were identified in the original mother-infant cohort (N=115). The magnitude clusters were not associated with infant outcomes. The trajectory characterized by increasing stress in late pregnancy was associated with blunted development of infant negative affect. This relationship was replicated in the second, larger cohort (N=2,156). In addition, the trajectories that included increasing or peak maternal stress in late pregnancy were related to stronger neonatal amygdala functional connectivity to the anterior insula and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in the exploratory analysis.ConclusionsThe trajectory of maternal stress appears to be important for offspring brain and behavioral development. Understanding heterogeneity in trajectories of maternal stress and their influence on infant brain and behavioral development is critical to developing targeted interventions.
Project description:Leptin a regulator of body weight is involved in reproductive and developmental functions. Leptin promoter DNA methylation (LEP) regulates gene expression in a tissue-specific manner and has been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes. In non-pathologic human pregnancies, we assessed LEP methylation, genotyped the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs2167270 in placental (n=81), maternal and cord blood samples (n=60), and examined the association between methylation, genotype, and perinatal factors. Maternal blood LEP methylation was lower in pre-pregnancy obese women (P=0.01). Cord blood LEP methylation was higher in small for gestational age (SGA) (P=4.6×10(-3)) and A/A genotype (P=1.6×10(-4)), lower (-1.47, P=0.03) in infants born to pre-pregnancy obese mothers and correlated (P=0.01) with maternal blood LEP. Gender was associated with placental LEP methylation (P=0.05). These results suggest that LEP epigenetic control may be influenced by perinatal factors including: maternal obesity, infant growth, genotype and gender in a tissue-specific manner and may have multigenerational implications.
Project description:The molecular details relevant to dietary supplementation of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA in mothers as well as in their offspring are not clear. The PUFA elongase, elongation of very long-chain fatty acid (ELOVL)2, is a critical enzyme in the formation of DHA in mammals. In order to address the question regarding the origin of DHA during perinatal life, we have used DHA-deficient Elovl2-ablated mice as a model system to analyze the maternal impact on the DHA level in their offspring of various genotypes. Elovl2-/- mothers maintained on control diet had significantly lower systemic levels of DHA compared with the Elovl2+/- and Elovl2+/+ mothers. Dietary DHA administration during the pregnancy and lactation periods led to increased DHA accretion in maternal tissues and serum of all genotypes. The proportion of DHA in the liver and serum of the Elovl2-/- offspring was significantly lower than in the Elovl2+/+ offspring. Remarkably, the DHA level in the Elovl2+/- offspring nursed by DHA-free-fed Elovl2-/- mothers was almost as high as in +/+ pups delivered by +/+ mothers, suggesting that endogenous synthesis in the offspring can compensate for maternal DHA deficiency. Maternal DHA supplementation had a strong impact on offspring hepatic gene expression, especially of the fatty acid transporter, Mfsd2a, suggesting a dynamic interplay between DHA synthesis and DHA uptake in the control of systemic levels in the offspring.
Project description:During the newborn period, intestinal commensal bacteria influence pulmonary mucosal immunology via the gut-lung axis. Epidemiological studies have linked perinatal antibiotic exposure in human newborns to an increased risk for bronchopulmonary dysplasia, but whether this effect is mediated by the gut-lung axis is unknown. To explore antibiotic disruption of the newborn gut-lung axis, we studied how perinatal maternal antibiotic exposure influenced lung injury in a hyperoxia-based mouse model of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. We report that disruption of intestinal commensal colonization during the perinatal period promotes a more severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia phenotype characterized by increased mortality and pulmonary fibrosis. Mechanistically, metagenomic shifts were associated with decreased IL-22 expression in bronchoalveolar lavage and were independent of hyperoxia-induced inflammasome activation. Collectively, these results demonstrate a previously unrecognized influence of the gut-lung axis during the development of neonatal lung injury, which could be leveraged to ameliorate the most severe and persistent pulmonary complication of preterm birth.
Project description:Background. It is unclear if the prevalence of Kawasaki disease (KD) correlates with the degree of urbanization. We hypothesized that the prevalence of KD is more pronounced in urban versus rural environments. Methods. The National Health Insurance (NHI) program was implemented in Taiwan in 1995 and covers most of the population (>99%). We used the NHI database to investigate the epidemiological features of KD. A total of 115 diagnosed patients with KD from 1997 to 2010 were included, together with 1,150 matched controls without KD. Chi-square analyses were performed to investigate the difference between modern city and rural environments. Results. Of the 1265 sampled subjects (claims data from 1,000,000 random subjects), the mean age of the KD study group and control group was 2.08 ± 1.66 and 2.08 ± 1.64 years, respectively. After matching for age, sex, and same index date, no statistically significant differences in urbanization level and geographical location of the patients' residence were observed. Conclusion. Urbanization did not appear to be an important effect modifier of Kawasaki disease in Taiwan.