Adherence to Mediterranean diet of children living in small Southern Italian villages.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in the primary schools of five small villages of Salento Peninsula to evaluate the adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MD) of 282 6-8-years old children in relation to lifestyles and socio-economic factors. The parents of children completed a self-administered questionnaire to evaluate the prevalence of personal, behavioural and socio-economic factors of their sons. Children's anthropometric measurements were also taken. The adherence to the MD was assessed using the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index for Children and Adolescents (KIDMED). The chi-square test was used to detect any differences among groups of children. Overall, 27.0% of children showed low adherence to the MD (KIDMED ≤3), 59.6% medium adherence (KIDMED 4-7) and 13.5% high adherence (KIDMED ≥8). The adherence to the MD was associated with the educational level (whether graduated or not) of the mother and the occupational status (whether employed or not) of both parents.

Micronucleus Frequency in Exfoliated Buccal Cells of Children Living in an Industrialized Area of Apulia (Italy).

Micronuclei (MN) are biomarkers of early biological effect often used for detecting DNA damage in human population exposed to genotoxic agents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of MN in exfoliated buccal cells of children living in an industrialized (impacted) area compared with that found in children living in a control area without significant anthropogenic impacts. A total of 462 6-8-year-old children (206 in the impacted area, 256 in the control area) attending primary school were enrolled. A questionnaire was administered to the parents of the recruited children to obtain information about personal data, lifestyles, and food habits of their children. Atmospheric particulate fractions were collected near the involved schools to assess the level of environmental exposure of the children. The presence of MN was highlighted in 68.4% of children living in the impacted area with a mean MN frequency of 0.66‱ ± 0.61‱. MN positivity and frequency were significantly lower in the control area (37.1% and 0.27‱ ± 0.43‱, respectively). The frequency of MN was positively associated with quasi-ultrafine particulate matter (PM0.5), traffic near the home, and consuming barbecued food; while adherence to the Mediterranean diet and practicing sport were negatively associated.

Micronuclei in Exfoliated Buccal Cells of Children Living in a Cluster Area of Salento (Southern Italy) with a High Incidence of Lung Cancer: The IMP.AIR Study.

During the years 2014⁻2016 the University of Salento performed the "Impact of Air Quality on Health of Residents in the Municipalities of Cutrofiano, Galatina, Sogliano Cavour, Soleto and Sternatia" (IMP.AIR) study, an epidemiological-molecular research project aiming to evaluate early DNA damage in children living in an area of Salento with high incidence of lung cancer among the male population. One hundred and twenty-two children aged 6⁻8 years attending primary school were enrolled and the frequency of micronucleated cells (MNC) in oral mucosa was evaluated. In addition, a questionnaire was administered to parents to obtain information about personal data, anthropometric characteristics and lifestyles (physical activity, food habits, family context) of the children and perform a multivariate analysis to detect any factors associated with MNC occurrence. Data on airborne pollutants detected in the study area were acquired by the Regional Agency for the Environmental Protection. The presence of MNC was highlighted in about 42% of children with a mean MNC frequency of 0.49‰. The frequency of MNC was associated to obesity, consumption of red or processed meat and having a mother who smokes. Moreover, the prevalence of biomarkers was higher than in another area of Salento not included in the cluster area.

Health Risk Associated with Exposure to PM10 and Benzene in Three Italian Towns.

Air pollution in urban areas is a major concern as it negatively affects the health of a large number of people. The purpose of this study was to assess the inhalation health risk for exposure to PM10 and benzene of the populations living in three Italian cities. Data regarding PM10 and benzene daily measured by "traffic" stations and "background" stations in Torino, Perugia, and Lecce during 2014 and 2015 were compared to the limits indicated in the Directive 2008/50/EC. In addition, an inhalation risk analysis for exposure to benzene was performed for adults and children by applying the standard United States Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) methodology. The levels of PM10 detected in Torino exceeded the legal limits in both years with an increased mean concentration >10 µg/m³ comparing with background station. Benzene concentrations never exceeded the legislative target value. The increased cancer risk (ICR) for children exposed to benzene was greater than 1 × 10-6 only in the city of Torino, while for adults, the ICR was higher than 1 × 10-6 in all the cities. The results suggest the need for emission reduction policies to preserve human health from continuous and long exposure to air pollutants. A revision of legal limits would also be recommended.

Human bocavirus: Current knowledge and future challenges.

Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a parvovirus isolated about a decade ago and found worldwide in both respiratory samples, mainly from early life and children of 6-24 mo of age with acute respiratory infection, and in stool samples, from patients with gastroenteritis. Since then, other viruses related to the first HBoV isolate (HBoV1), namely HBoV2, HBoV3 and HBoV4, have been detected principally in human faeces. HBoVs are small non-enveloped single-stranded DNA viruses of about 5300 nucleotides, consisting of three open reading frames encoding the first two the non-structural protein 1 (NS1) and nuclear phosphoprotein (NP1) and the third the viral capsid proteins 1 and 2 (VP1 and VP2). HBoV pathogenicity remains to be fully clarified mainly due to the lack of animal models for the difficulties in replicating the virus in in vitro cell cultures, and the fact that HBoV infection is frequently accompanied by at least another viral and/or bacterial respiratory and/or gastroenteric pathogen infection. Current diagnostic methods to support HBoV detection include polymerase chain reaction, real-time PCR, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and enzyme immunoassay using recombinant VP2 or virus-like particle capsid proteins, although sequence-independent amplification techniques combined with next-generation sequencing platforms promise rapid and simultaneous detection of the pathogens in the future. This review presents the current knowledge on HBoV genotypes with emphasis on taxonomy, phylogenetic relationship and genomic analysis, biology, epidemiology, pathogenesis and diagnostic methods. The emerging discussion on HBoVs as true pathogen or innocent bystander is also emphasized.