Maternal blood cadmium, lead and arsenic levels, nutrient combinations, and offspring birthweight.

BACKGROUND: Cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) are common environmental contaminants that have been associated with lower birthweight. Although some essential metals may mitigate exposure, data are inconsistent. This study sought to evaluate the relationship between toxic metals, nutrient combinations and birthweight among 275 mother-child pairs. METHODS: Non-essential metals, Cd, Pb, As, and essential metals, iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), selenium (Se), copper (Cu), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and manganese (Mn) were measured in maternal whole blood obtained during the first trimester using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Folate concentrations were measured by microbial assay. Birthweight was obtained from medical records. We used quantile regression to evaluate the association between toxic metals and nutrients due to their underlying wedge-shaped relationship. Ordinary linear regression was used to evaluate associations between birth weight and toxic metals. RESULTS: After multivariate adjustment, the negative association between Pb or Cd and a combination of Fe, Se, Ca and folate was robust, persistent and dose-dependent (p < 0.05). However, a combination of Zn, Cu, Mn and Mg was positively associated with Pb and Cd levels. While prenatal blood Cd and Pb were also associated with lower birthweight. Fe, Se, Ca and folate did not modify these associations. CONCLUSION: Small sample size and cross-sectional design notwithstanding, the robust and persistent negative associations between some, but not all, nutrient combinations with these ubiquitous environmental contaminants suggest that only some recommended nutrient combinations may mitigate toxic metal exposure in chronically exposed populations. Larger longitudinal studies are required to confirm these findings.

Development and validity of a 3-day smartphone assisted 24-hour recall to assess beverage consumption in a Chinese population: a randomized cross-over study.

This paper addresses the need for diet assessment methods that capture the rapidly changing beverage consumption patterns in China. The objective of this study was to develop a 3-day smartphone-assisted 24-hour recall to improve the quantification of beverage intake amongst young Chinese adults (n=110) and validate, in a small subset (n=34), the extent to which the written record and smartphone-assisted recalls adequately estimated total fluid intake, using 24-hour urine samples. The smartphone-assisted method showed improved validity compared with the written record-assisted method, when comparing reported total fluid intake to total urine volume. However, participants reported consuming fewer beverages on the smartphone-assisted method compared with the written record-assisted method, primarily due to decreased consumption of traditional zero-energy beverages (i.e. water, tea) in the smartphone-assisted method. It is unclear why participants reported fewer beverages in the smartphone-assisted method than the written record -assisted method. One possibility is that participants found the smartphone method too cumbersome, and responded by decreasing beverage intake. These results suggest that smartphone-assisted 24-hour recalls perform comparably but do not appear to substantially improve beverage quantification compared with the current written record-based approach. In addition, we piloted a beverage screener to identify consumers of episodically consumed SSBs. As expected, a substantially higher proportion of consumers reported consuming SSBs on the beverage screener compared with either recall type, suggesting that a beverage screener may be useful in characterizing consumption of episodically consumed beverages in China's dynamic food and beverage landscape.

Breastfeeding, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in colostrum, and infant mental development.

BACKGROUND: Breastfeeding has been associated with improved neurodevelopment in children. However, it remains unknown to what extent nutritional advantages of breast milk may explain this relationship. OBJECTIVE: We assessed the role of parental psychosocial factors and colostrum long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA) levels in the relationship between breastfeeding and children's neurodevelopment. METHODS: A population-based birth cohort was established in the city of Sabadell (Catalonia, Spain) as part of the INMA-INfancia y Medio Ambiente Project. A total of 657 women were recruited during the first trimester of pregnancy. Information about parental characteristics and breastfeeding was obtained by using a questionnaire, and trained psychologists assessed mental and psychomotor development by using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development in 504 children at 14 months of age. RESULTS: A high percentage of breastfeeds among all milk feeds accumulated during the first 14 months was positively related with child mental development (0.37 points per month of full breastfeeding [95% confidence interval: 0.06-0.67]). Maternal education, social class, and intelligence quotient only partly explained this association. Children with a longer duration of breastfeeding also exposed to higher ratios between n-3 and n-6 PUFAs in colostrum had significantly higher mental scores than children with low breastfeeding duration exposed to low levels. CONCLUSIONS: Greater levels of accumulated breastfeeding during the first year of life were related to higher mental development at 14 months, largely independently from a wide range of parental psychosocial factors. LC-PUFA levels seem to play a beneficial role in children's mental development when breastfeeding levels are high.

Relationship between maternal dietary patterns and hypospadias.

Little is known about the role of maternal nutrition in the development of hypospadias, which is the most common urogenital congenital anomaly. This study investigated the relationship between maternal nutrition and the risk of hypospadias, particularly focusing on maternal food patterns. We compared 471 hypospadias cases with 490 controls in the United Kingdom. A questionnaire including information on life style, occupation, usual maternal diet and dietary supplements was administered using telephone interviews. Cases and controls were compared for individual food item intake and food patterns derived by cluster analysis. Multivariable logistic regression analysis adjusted for income, maternal age, low birthweight, smoking and folic acid supplement use was used to assess the relationship between maternal nutrition and hypospadias. Three food patterns were created with the labels 'health conscious', 'mixed' and 'non-health conscious'. 'Non-health conscious' subjects (low frequency of consumption of yoghurt, cheese, eggs, fruit and vegetables, fish, beans and pulses, olive oil and organic food) had a higher risk of hypospadias (odds ratio 1.54; 95% confidence interval 1.06, 2.26) compared with 'health conscious' subjects (high frequency of consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables, dried fruit, fresh or frozen fish, beans, pulses, soya products, olive oil and organic food), after adjustment for potential confounders. Intakes of individual foods were not strongly associated with hypospadias. We could not exclude the possibility of residual confounding, and this needs to be further investigated. We found an association between food pattern and hypospadias, with those with less health conscious food patterns having a higher risk. Further study is needed to confirm this association.

Food and nutrient intakes and K-ras mutations in exocrine pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND: No studies have investigated the relation between K-ras mutations and dietary factors in exocrine pancreatic cancer (EPC), and fewer than 10 studies have done so in other neoplasms. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Incident cases of EPC were prospectively identified, and interviewed face-to-face during hospital admission. Food and nutrient intakes were measured with a food frequency questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to compare EPC cases (n = 107) with and without K-ras mutations (case-case study). RESULTS: K-ras mutations were more common among daily consumers of milk and other dairy products than among non-daily consumers: the odds ratio adjusted by total energy, age, sex, smoking, alcohol and coffee consumption (ORa) was 5.1 (95% CI 1.1 to 24.5, p = 0.040). For all dairy products, including butter, the ORa for the medium and upper tertiles of intake were 5.4 and 11.6, respectively (p for trend = 0.023). The ORa for regular coffee drinkers further adjusted by dairy consumption was 4.7 (95% CI 1.1 to 20.7, p = 0.043). K-ras mutated cases reported a lower intake of vitamin E (ORa = 0.2, p for trend = 0.036), polyunsaturated fats and omega 3 fatty acids (ORa = 0.2; p for trend <0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Results support the hypothesis that in EPC exposure to specific dietary components or contaminants may influence the occurrence or persistence of K-ras mutations.