Maternal psychological stress during pregnancy and newborn telomere length: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Telomeres protect the ends of chromosomes, and shorter leukocyte telomeres are associated with major group diseases. Maternal psychological stress may be related to the shortening of telomeres in infants. This systematic review and meta-analysis set out to consolidate the varying effect sizes found in studies of maternal psychological stress and telomere length (TL) in newborns and identify moderators of the relationship between stress during pregnancy and newborn TL. METHODS: Our systematic review was registered in Prospero. Six databases (PubMed, Scopus, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and CINAHL Complete) were searched for records in English from inception to February 10, 2023. Observational studies were included that measured the relationship of psychological stress of the mother during pregnancy on the TL of the newborn. The Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment scale was used to assess the quality of the included studies. A random-effect model was selected. Statistical analysis performed by Stata software version 17. RESULTS: Eight studies were included for qualitative and four for quantitative analysis. There was an inverse statistically significant relationship between maternal stress and newborn TL; A one score increase in maternal psychological stress resulted in a 0.04 decrease in the TL of the newborn (B = -0.04, 95% CI = [-0.08, 0.00], p = 0.05). Selectivity analysis showed that the pooled effect size was sensitive to one study; After removing this study, the pooled effect size remained significant (B = -0.06, 95% CI = [-0. 10, -0.02], p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Physiological and environmental factors can significantly affect the TL of newborns. Our results support a significant impact of maternal psychological stress on the TL of a newborn. This association demonstrates the significance of stress in influencing the telomere length, which can be a contributing factor in the infant's future. Therefore, recognizing this association is crucial for understanding and addressing potential health risks and necessitates the need for additional future studies to validate our findings.

Understanding the role of oxidative stress in the incidence of metabolic syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the causes and risk factors of metabolic syndrome is important for promoting population health. Oxidative stress has been associated with metabolic syndrome, and also obstructive sleep apnea. These are two diseases which have common prognostic characteristics for heart disease. The aim of this study was to examine the role of oxidative stress in the concurrent presence of metabolic syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea in a working population. METHODS: Participants were 163 artisan bakers in Shahroud, Iran, routinely exposed to significant heat stress and other oxidative stress indicators on a daily basis as part of their work. Using a cross-sectional design, data relevant to determining metabolic syndrome status according to International Diabetes Federation criteria, and the presence of obstructive sleep apnea according to the STOP-Bang score, was collected. Analyses included hierarchical binary logistic regression to yield predictors of the two diseases. RESULTS: Hierarchical binary logistic regression showed that oxidative stress - alongside obesity, no regular exercise, and smoking - was an independent predictor of metabolic syndrome, but not obstructive sleep apnea. Participants who were obese were 28 times more likely to have metabolic syndrome (OR 28.59, 95% CI 4.91-63.02) and 44 times more likely to have obstructive sleep apnea (OR 44.48, 95% CI 4.91-403.28). Participants meeting metabolic syndrome criteria had significantly higher levels of malondialdehyde (p <  0.05) than those who did not. No difference in oxidative stress index levels were found according to obstructive sleep apnea status. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that oxidative stress contributes to the onset of metabolic syndrome, and that obstructive sleep apnea is involved in oxidative stress. Whilst obesity, exercise, and smoking remain important targets for reducing the incidence of metabolic syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea, policies to control risks of prolonged exposure to oxidative stress are also relevant in occupations where such environmental conditions exist.

Ecological study on household air pollution exposure and prevalent chronic disease in the elderly.

Older people spend most of their time indoors. Limited evidence demonstrates that exposure to indoor air pollutants might be related to chronic complications. This study aimed to estimate the correlation between household air pollution (HAP)'s long-term exposure and the prevalence of elevated hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), obesity, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. From the Global Burden disease dataset, we extracted HAP, hypertension, DM, body mass index, and LDL cholesterol data from Iran from 1990 to 2019 to males and females in people over 50 years. We present APC and AAPC and their confidence intervals using Joinpoint Software statistical software. R software examined the correlation between HAP and hypertension, DM2, Obesity, and high LDL cholesterol. Our finding showed a significant and positive correlation between HAP exposure and prevalence of high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p ≤ 0.001, r = 0.70), high systolic blood pressure (p ≤ 0.001, r = 0.63), and high body mass index (p ≤ 0.001, r = 0.57), and DM2 (p ≤ 0.001, r = 0.38). The analysis results also illustrated a positive correlation between indoor air pollution and smoking (p ≤ 0.001, r = 0.92). HAP exposure might be a risk factor for elevated blood pressure, DM, obesity, and LDL cholesterol and, consequently, more serious health problems. According to our results, smoking is one of the sources of HAP. However, ecological studies cannot fully support causal relationships, and this article deals only with Iran. Our findings should be corroborated in personal exposure and biomonitoring approach studies.

Gender and urban-rural residency based differences in the prevalence of type-2 diabetes mellitus and its determinants among adults in Naghadeh: Results of IraPEN survey.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, with a high economic burden on health care systems. Since gender and residency can affect people's lifestyle and health behaviors, this study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of T2DM and its determinants by gender and residency. METHODS: A secondary analysis study was conducted on the survey data of the IraPEN (Iran's Package of Essential Non-Communicable Disease) pilot program conducted in 2017 in Naghadeh County, Iran. Data of 3,691 participants aged 30-70 years from rural and urban areas of the County were included into data analysis process. Sociodemographic factors, anthropometric measurements, and cardiovascular risk factors related to T2DM were assessed. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of T2DM within the population was 13.8%, which was significantly higher among women (15.5%) than men (11.8%), and non-significantly higher in urban (14.5%) areas than rural (12.3%) areas. In both genders, age (male: OR 1.01, 95% CI: 1.00-1.03; P = 0.012; female: OR 1.03, 95% CI: 1.02-1.04; P<0.001), blood pressure (male: OR 1.77, 95% CI: 1.13-2.79; P = 0.013; female: OR 2.86, 95% CI: 2.12-3.85; P<0.001), and blood triglycerides (male: OR 1.46, 95% CI: 1.01-2.11; P = 0.04; female: OR 1.34, 95% CI: 1.02-1.77; P = 0.035) had a significant relationship with the chance of developing T2DM. Among women, a significant relationship was found between abdominal obesity (OR 1.68, 95% CI: 1.17-2.40; P = 0.004) and the chance of developing T2DM. Age (rural: OR 1.03, 95% CI: 1.01-1.04; P<0.001; urban: OR 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01-1.04; P<0.001), blood pressure (rural: OR 3.14, 95% CI: 2.0-4.93; P<0.001; urban: OR 2.23, 95% CI: 1.66-3; P<0.001), and abdominal obesity (rural: OR 2.34, 95% CI: 1.41-3.87; P = 0.001; urban: OR 1.46, 95% CI: 1.06-2.01; P = 0.019), in both rural and urban areas, blood cholesterol (OR 1.59, 95% CI: 1.07-2.37; P = 0.02) in rural areas, and blood triglycerides (OR 1.51, 95% CI: 1.16-1.98; P = 0.002) in urban areas were significant predictors of T2DM. CONCLUSION: Given the higher prevalence of T2DM among females, risk reduction strategies at the community level should be more targeted at women. The higher prevalence of T2DM risk factors among the urban population is a wake-up call for policymakers to pay more attention to the consequences of unhealthy and sedentary lifestyles within urban communities. Future actions should be focused on appropriate timely action plans for the prevention and control of T2DM from early years of life.