(Press-News.org) Scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health developed a method using a DNA biomarker to easily screen pregnant women for harmful prenatal environmental contaminants like air pollution linked to childhood illness and developmental disorders. This approach has the potential to prevent childhood developmental disorders and chronic illness through the early identification of children at risk.
While environmental factors--including air pollutants--have previously been associated with DNA markers, no studies to date have used DNA markers to flag environmental exposures in children. Study results are published online in the journal Epigenetics.
There is ample scientific evidence that links prenatal environmental exposures to poor outcomes in children, yet so far there is no early warning system to predict which children are at highest risk of adverse health outcomes. The researchers took a major step toward overcoming this barrier by identifying an accessible biomarker measured in a small amount of blood to distinguish newborns at elevated risk due to prenatal exposure. They used air pollutants as a case study, although they say their approach is easily generalizable to other environmental exposures, and could eventually be made into a routine test.
The researchers used machine learning analysis of umbilical cord blood collected through two New York City-based longitudinal birth cohorts to identify locations on DNA altered by air pollution. (DNA can be altered through methylation, which can modify gene expression, which can, for example, impact the amount of proteins that are important for development.) Study participants had known levels of exposure to air pollution measured through personal and ambient air monitoring during pregnancy, with specific measures of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).
They tested these biomarkers and found that they could be used to predict prenatal exposure to NO2 and PM2.5 (which were monitored throughout pregnancy), although only with modest accuracy. PAH (which was only monitored for a short period during the third trimester) was less well predicted. The researchers now plan to apply their biomarker discovery process using a larger pool of data collected through the ECHO consortium, which potentially could lead to higher levels of predictability. It might also be possible to link these biomarkers with both exposures and adverse health outcomes. With better predictability and lower cost, the method could become a routine test used in hospitals and clinics.
"Using a small sample of cord blood, it may be possible to infer prenatal environmental exposure levels in women where exposures were not explicitly measured," says senior author Julie Herbstman, PhD, director of Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) and associate professor of Environmental Health Sciences. "While further validation is needed, this approach may help identify newborns at heightened risk for health problems. With this information, clinicians could increase monitoring for high-risk children to see if problems develop and prescribe interventions, as needed."
Approximately 15 percent of children in the United States ages 3 to 17 years are affected by neurodevelopmental disorders, including attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities, intellectual disability, autism and other developmental delays. The prevalence of childhood asthma in the US is 8 percent with the highest rates in African-American boys. Environmental exposures are known, or suspected of contributing to, multiple childhood disorders and are by nature preventable once identified as harmful. Prenatal air pollution exposure has been associated with adverse neurodevelopmental and respiratory outcomes, as well as obesity.
INFORMATION:
Study co-authors include Frederica Perera, Jia Guo, Kylie W. Riley, Teresa Durham, Andrea Baccarelli, and Shuang Wang at Columbia Mailman School; Zev Ross at Zev Ross Spatial Analysis; and Cande V. Ananth at Rutgers University.
This study was supported by the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund; NIH Office of the Director (OD023290); NIH Office of the Director (OD023290); National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (ES09600, ES13163, ES014393, ES09600, ES08977), New York Community Trust, John and Wendy Neu Foundation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (RD83615401, RD832141, RD82702701, RD834509).
Women who received physical therapy after undergoing a cesarean section had significantly improved outcomes compared to those who did not according to a new study from University of Missouri Health Care.
"C-section is one of the most commonly performed inpatient procedures, and women who require C-section instead of a spontaneous vaginal delivery are at least twice as likely to suffer low back and pelvic pain," said study author Jennifer Stone, DPT, of MU Health Care's Mizzou Therapy Services. "Our goal was to evaluate the impact of comprehensive physical therapy on recovery following a cesarean birth."
Stone's study recruited 72 women who delivered by cesarean section ...
Preparing regular concrete scientists replaced ordinary water with water concentrate of bacteria Bacillus cohnii, which survived in the pores of cement stone. The cured concrete was tested for compression until it cracked, then researchers observed how the bacteria fixed the gaps restoring the strength of the concrete. The engineers of the Polytechnic Institute of Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), together with colleagues from Russia, India, and Saudi Arabia, reported the results in Sustainability journal.
During the experiment, bacteria activated when gained access to oxygen and moisture, which occurred after the concrete cracked under the pressure of the setup. The "awakened" bacteria completely repaired fissures with a width ...
(Boston)--Veterans who experienced the combination of low depression, high social support and high psychological resilience as they left military service were most likely to report high well-being a year later.
Neither demographic and military characteristics nor trauma history emerged as strong predictors of veterans' well-being when considered in the context of other factors. Although most predictors were similar for women and men, depression was a stronger predictor of women's well-being.
Every year, more than 200,000 U.S. service members transition out of the military. Although most military veterans can be expected ...
Québec City, February 17, 2021 - Platelets may play a key role in the development of lupus, according to a study published today by researchers at Université Laval and CHU de Québec-Université Laval Research Centre. Extracellular DNA circulating in the blood of patients with lupus causes the inflammatory reaction associated with the disease. The researchers have shown that this DNA comes in part from the platelets, better known for their role in coagulating blood. The details of the breakthrough have been published today in Science ...
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- In a new study, Penn State researchers demonstrated that facilitating researcher-policymaker interactions in rapid response processes can influence both how legislators think about policy issues and how they draft legislation.
Penn State professors Max Crowley, associate professor of human development and family studies, and public policy, and Taylor Scott, assistant research professor in the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, co-direct the Research-to-Policy Collaboration, which connects members of Congress with researchers who synthesize evidence about family and child policy in a timely and digestible ...
Scientists from the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago demonstrated that a nanotherapy reduces intestinal inflammation and shrinks lesions in a rodent model of severe Crohn's disease. This approach could become an alternative to biologic antibody therapies that carry many side effects, including increased risk of certain cancers. It might also prevent the need for surgery in the future. Findings were published in the journal Advanced Therapeutics.
Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the digestive tract, most often in the small intestine. ...
In response to the increase in opioid overdose deaths in the United States, many states have implemented supply-controlling and harm-reduction policy measures aimed at reducing those deaths. But a recent study from Indiana University found the policies may have had the unintended consequence of motivating those with opioid use disorders to switch to alternative illicit substances, leading to higher overdose mortality.
"Literature from public health to social sciences has presented mixed and contradictory findings on the impact of opioid policies on various opioid ...
INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics Key Takeaways:
Although waiting times in walk-up clinics are shorter, people preferred the convenience of drive-through clinics.
People believe drive-through clinics are safer, more convenient and less contagious.
You can vaccinate a large number of people without a lot of waiting and confusion using a drive-through clinic.
CATONSVILLE, MD, February 17, 2021 - Policymakers at all levels of government are racing to vaccinate hundreds of millions of people to save lives and blunt the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. New research published ...
Researchers have developed a new tool for addressing disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) - a blood disorder that proves fatal in many patients. The technology has not yet entered clinical trials, but in vivo studies using rat models and in vitro models using blood from DIC patients highlight the tech's potential.
"DIC basically causes too much clotting and too much bleeding at the same time," says Ashley Brown, corresponding author of a paper on the work. "Small blood clots can form throughout the circulatory system, often causing organ damage. And because this taxes the body's supply of clotting factors, patients also experience excess bleeding. Depending on ...
In recent years, free digital world maps like OpenStreetMap (OSM) have become a vital instrument to support humanitarian missions over the entire world. In disaster management as well as the implementation of the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), geodata compiled by the volunteer mapper community open up new possibilities to coordinate aid interventions and carry out sustainability projects. The mapping data are collected either locally using a smartphone and GPS device or on the basis of satellite images. An international team of researchers led by geoinformation ...
