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Diet and Nondiet Predictors of Urinary 3-Phenoxybenzoic Acid in NHANES 1999-2002.
Environ Health Perspect. 2008 Aug;116(8):1015-22
Authors: Riederer AM, Bartell SM, Barr DB, Ryan PB
BACKGROUND: 3-Phenoxybenzoic acid (3PBA), a pyrethroid metabolite, was detected in 75% of urine samples analyzed for pesticides in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2002. NHANES also includes 24-hr diet data and information on household pesticide use, activities, occupation, demographics, and other exposure factors. OBJECTIVES: The objective of our study was to explore the relative importance of diet versus nondiet predictors in explaining variability in urinary 3PBA. A secondary objective was to explore whether the NHANES data could be used to identify particular foods driving 3PBA levels. METHODS: We divided subjects into child (6-10 years of age), teen (11-18 years), and adult (>/= 19 years) age groups and restricted our analyses to subjects in the morning sampling session who fasted for >/= 8 hr beforehand. Regression modeling consisted of several model-building steps and a final Tobit regression on the left-censored log 3PBA measurements. We also conducted bootstrap analyses to evaluate the stability of the regression parameters. RESULTS: Reported household pesticide use was not significantly associated with urinary 3PBA in any age group. Diet was significant for all three groups, and certain foods appeared to contribute more than others. Among adults, tobacco use was positively associated with 3PBA (p = 0.0326), and positive associations were suggested with the number of cytochrome p450-inhibiting medications taken (p = 0.0652) and minutes spent gardening (p = 0.0613) in the past month. CONCLUSIONS: Although exploratory, our findings underline the importance of collecting accurate data on household pesticide use and dietary intake when evaluating pyrethroid exposure-biomarker relationships.
PMID: 18709153 [PubMed - in process]
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The influence of leptin on early life programming of obesity.
Trends Biotechnol. 2008 Aug 13;
Authors: Stocker CJ, Cawthorne MA
Epidemiological evidence together with experimental models shows a direct relationship between fetal and early postnatal growth patterns and an increased risk of adult metabolic disease. Maternal health and nutrition are key determinants in influencing infant growth but the precise molecular mechanisms underlying this relationship are unclear, although it is evident that there are critical time windows when these effects are important. Animal models show mechanistic parallels with human populations and highlight that the early environment represents a therapeutic window for protection from obesity and metabolic disease. The observation that developmental programming can be reversed has been demonstrated in studies in which both maternal and neonatal leptin treatment prevents the induction of the adverse metabolic phenotype. Given that orally administered peptides are absorbed intact by the new born, the prospect of providing supplemental leptin either as drops or in milk deserves serious consideration as a means of reducing or reversing the obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemic.
PMID: 18706724 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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Management of postnatal depression.
BMJ. 2008;337:a736
Authors: Musters C, McDonald E, Jones I
PMID: 18689433 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Mental retardation and lifetime events of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in Japan.
Intern Med. 2008;47(13):1207-10
Authors: Mochizuki H, Miyatake S, Suzuki M, Shigeyama T, Yatabe K, Ogata K, Tamura T, Kawai M
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the relationship between mental retardation and lifetime events in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). METHODS: The data on mental retardation and ages of lifetime events (first walking, loss of ambulation, introductions of ventilator support and tube nutrition and death) were collected retrospectively, and the relationships between the factors were analyzed. PATIENTS: Among 194 DMD patients admitted to our hospital between 1995 and 2007, 74 patients underwent evaluation of their intelligence quotient (IQ). RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients (38%) demonstrated mental retardation (IQ<70). DMD patients with mental retardation started walking later, required ventilator and tube nutrition support earlier, and died earlier than those without mental retardation. CONCLUSIONS: Since the prognosis of DMD patients with mental retardation was worse than that of those without mental retardation, more careful treatment is necessary for DMD patients with mental retardation.
PMID: 18591841 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Social and physical environmental factors and child overweight in a sample of American and Czech school-aged children: a pilot study.
J Nutr Educ Behav. 2008 Jul-Aug;40(4):251-7
Authors: Humenikova L, Gates GE
OBJECTIVE: To compare environmental factors that influence body mass index for age (BMI-for-age) between a sample of American and Czech school-aged children. DESIGN: Pilot study. A parent questionnaire and school visits were used to collect data from parents and children. SETTING: Public schools in 1 American and 2 Czech cities. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-five American and 97 Czech 4(th)- through 6(th)-graders and their parents. VARIABLES MEASURED: Parenting style, food socialization and preparation practices, healthful food availability, and children's BMI-for-age were measured. ANALYSIS: Factors from the parental scales were derived using factor analysis. Independent t tests compared environmental factors between American and Czech families. A regression model was used to identify environmental variables associated with BMI-for-age. RESULTS: American parents used authoritative parenting style and positive food socialization practices more often than Czech parents (P <.001). Availability of healthful food and parental involvement in food preparation were higher (P <.001) in Czech households. Positive encouraging socialization practices, less frequent use of negative explanations, and a greater availability of vegetables were associated with lower BMI-for-age in the Czech sample of children. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: A future study should focus on identifying environmental factors that influence children's BMI-for-age with a large sample of Czech and American parents and their school-aged children.
PMID: 18565466 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
