Racial Residential Segregation and the Health of Black Youth With Type 1 Diabetes.

OBJECTIVES: Black youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D) are at heightened risk for suboptimal glycemic control. Studies of neighborhood effects on the health of youth with T1D are limited. The current study investigated the effects of racial residential segregation on the diabetes health of young Black adolescents with T1D. METHODS: A total of 148 participants were recruited from 7 pediatric diabetes clinics in 2 US cities. Racial residential segregation (RRS) was calculated at the census block group level based on US Census data. Diabetes management was measured via self-report questionnaire. Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) information was gathered from participants during home-based data collection. Hierarchical linear regression was used to test the effects of RRS while controlling for family income, youth age, insulin delivery method (insulin pump versus syringe therapy), and neighborhood adversity. RESULTS: HbA1c was significantly associated with RRS in bivariate analyses, whereas youth-reported diabetes management was not. In hierarchical regression analyses, whereas family income, age, and insulin delivery method were all significantly associated with HbA1c in model 1, only RRS, age, and insulin delivery method were significantly associated with HbA1c in model 2. Model 2 explained 25% of the variance in HbA1c (P = .001). CONCLUSIONS: RRS was associated with glycemic control in a sample of Black youth with T1D and accounted for variance in HbA1c even after controlling for adverse neighborhood conditions. Policies to reduce residential segregation, along with improved screening for neighborhood-level risk, hold the potential to improve the health of a vulnerable population of youth.

Effect of lifestyle-based lipid lowering interventions on the relationship between circulating levels of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances and serum cholesterol.

Exposure to certain per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has been shown to be positively associated with total and/or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Examining this association in lipid lowering interventions may provide additional evidence linking PFAS to cardiovascular risk. We examined the relationship of 6 PFAS with cholesterol in a 6-month lifestyle-based intervention. We quantitated PFAS in 350 individuals at baseline and post intervention and examined associations of PFAS with cholesterol before and after intervention. Food frequency questionnaires and GIS analyses were used to investigate PFAS hotspots and possible exposure routes. Cholesterol significantly decreased following intervention and in parallel, PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, and PFHpA significantly decreased. PFOS was positively correlated with total cholesterol only post-intervention. We observed that PFOS was distributed among both non-albumin and albumin lipoprotein fractions pre-intervention, but entirely in albumin fraction post-intervention. Our results indicate that lipid-lowering via lifestyle modification may impact on circulating levels or distribution of PFAS.

Effects of family and neighborhood risks on glycemic control among young black adolescents with type 1 diabetes: Findings from a multi-center study.

While individual and family risk factors that contribute to health disparities in children with type 1 diabetes have been identified, studies on the effects of neighborhood risk factors on glycemic control are limited, particularly in minority samples. This cross-sectional study tested associations between family conflict, neighborhood adversity and glycemic outcomes (HbA1c) in a sample of urban, young Black adolescents with type 1 diabetes(mean age = 13.4 ± 1.7), as well as whether neighborhood adversity moderated the relationship between family conflict and HbA1c. Participants (N = 128) were recruited from five pediatric diabetes clinics in two major metropolitan US cities. Diabetes-related family conflict was measured via self-report questionnaire (Diabetes Family Conflict Scale; DFCS). Neighborhood adversity was calculated at the census block group level based on US census data. Indictors of adversity were used to calculate a neighborhood adversity index (NAI) for each participant. Median family income was $25,000, suggesting a low SES sample. In multiple regression analyses, DFCS and NAI both had significant, independent effects on glycemic control (ß = 0.174, P = 0.034 and ß = 0.226 P = 0.013, respectively) after controlling for child age, family socioeconomic status and insulin management regimen. Tests of effects of the NAI and DFCS interaction on HbA1c found no significant moderating effects of neighborhood adversity. Even within contexts of significant socioeconomic disadvantage, variability in degree of neighborhood adversity predicts diabetes-related health outcomes in young Black adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Providers should assess social determinants of health such as neighborhood resources that may impact adolescents' ability to maintain optimal glycemic control.

Effects of environmental stressors on stem cells.

Environmental toxicants are ubiquitous, and many are known to cause harmful health effects. However, much of what we know or think we know concerning the targets and long-term effects of exposure to environmental stressors is sadly lacking. Toxicant exposure may have health effects that are currently mischaracterized or at least mechanistically incompletely understood. While much of the recent excitement about stem cells (SCs) focuses on their potential as therapeutic agents, they also offer a valuable resource to give us insight into the mechanisms and risks of toxicant effects. Not only as a response to the increasing ethical pressure to reduce animal testing, SC studies allow us valuable insight into the true effects of human exposure to environmental stressors under controlled conditions. We present a review of the history of publications on the effects of environmental stressors on SCs, followed by a consolidation of the literature over the past five years on a subset of key environmental stressors of importance to human health and their effects on both embryonic and tissue SCs. The review will make constructive suggestions as to areas of toxicant research where further studies are needed, as well as making indications of the potential utility for advancing knowledge and directing research on environmental toxicology.