Correlations between serum BDNF levels and neurodevelopmental outcomes in infants of mothers with gestational diabetes.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of foetal and neonatal complications and long-term complications in the offspring. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a neurotrophin that has a crucial role in neurogenesis modulation and neural pathway maturation during neurodevelopment, may have a role in protecting neurons against injury and diseases by modulating glucose metabolism. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible relationship between the serum BDNF levels of infants of mothers with gestational diabetes (IMGD) and neurodevelopmental outcomes of the children after birth. METHODS: A total of 24 candidates, including 8 IMGD and 16 healthy infants, were recruited for the study. Medical records were reviewed. Serum BDNF levels of the study participants were collected at birth and at 6 and 12 months of age. Developmental outcomes of each candidate were assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development III (BSID III) at 6 and 12 months of corrected age. RESULTS: Compared to non-IMGD, IMGD had greater mean body weight (p = 0.04) and height (p < 0.01) at age 12 months. The language composite score was significantly lower in IMGD at 12 months of age (p = 0.038). The BDNF content was significantly higher in the non-IMGD than in the IMGD group at 12 months of age (p = 0.013). CONCLUSION: In this study, we demonstrated that infants of mothers with gestational diabetes do worse in language development and have lower BDNF levels at 12 months of age. There may be a close correlation between language outcomes and serum BDNF levels at 12 months of age. A follow-up study on future developmental status is warranted.

[Space-Time Estimations and Mapping of PM2.5 Fine Particulates Based on Multi-source Data].

PM2.5 pollution in China has become an extreme environmental and social problem and has generated widespread public concern. We estimate ground-level PM2.5 from satellite-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD), topography data, meteorological data, and pollutant emissions using a new technique, Bayesian maximum entropy (BME) combined with geographically weighted regression (GWR), to evaluate the spatial and temporal characteristics of PM2.5 exposure in an eastern region of China in winter. The overall 10-fold cross-validation R2 is 0.92, and the root mean squared prediction error (RMSE) is 8.32 µg·m-3. The mean prediction error (MPE) of the predicted monthly PM2.5 is -0.042 µg·m-3, the mean absolute prediction error (MAE) is 4.60 µg·m-3. Compared with the results of the Geographically Weighted Regression model-GWR (R2=0.71, RMSE=15.68 µg·m-3, MPE=-0.095 µg·m-3, MAE=11.14 µg·m-3), the prediction by the BME were greatly improved. In this location, the high PM2.5concentration area is mainly concentrated in North China, the Yangtze River Delta, and Sichuan Basin. The low concentration area is mainly concentrated in the south of China, including the Pearl River Delta and southwest of Yunnan. Temporally, there is migration trend from the coastal areas inland, and PM2.5 pollution is most serious in December 2015 and January 2016. It is relatively low in November 2015 and February 2016.

Identification of an association between genomic hypomethylation of FCGR2A and susceptibility to Kawasaki disease and intravenous immunoglobulin resistance by DNA methylation array.

OBJECTIVE: Kawasaki disease (KD) is characterized by systemic vasculitis, and it is the most common acquired heart disease in children. However, the etiology and immunopathogenesis of KD are still unclear. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified polymorphisms in CD40, BLK, and FCGR2A as the susceptibility genes for KD. No epigenetic array studies of KD have previously been published. This study was undertaken to investigate differences in DNA methylation in patients with KD as compared to controls. METHODS: The HumanMethylation27 BeadChip (Illumina) was used to survey the differences in DNA methylation between KD patients and controls. DNA methylation array validation was performed in a separate cohort by pyrosequencing assay and reporter gene assays. Messenger RNA (mRNA) expression was determined, and the association of methylation with response to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment was analyzed. RESULTS: HumanMethylation27 BeadChip assay showed a 15% difference in methylation of 10 genes between KD patients and controls. The FCGR2A cg24422489 group, which was recently reported to be associated with KD susceptibility in a GWAS, had significant hypomethylation of 15.54% less in the KD group than in the control group. Validation of FCGR2A methylation in another cohort also showed significant hypomethylation in the KD group (5 of 5 CpG sites [P < 0.01]; n = 43 in the KD group and n = 55 in the control group). KD patients with IVIG resistance showed hypomethylation of 5 CpG sites (P < 0.05). FCGR2A mRNA expression was significantly increased in patients in the acute stage of KD compared to controls. Reporter gene assays indicated that the CpG sites of the FCGR2A promoter region were sufficient to modulate gene expression. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to examine the DNA methylation array in KD and identify a role of hypomethylation of FCGR2A in susceptibility to KD and IVIG resistance.

Periventricular echogenicity is related to delayed neurodevelopment of preterm infants.

Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) is one of the most commonly seen neuropathologic lesions and is related to many neurodevelopmental handicaps in premature infants. Periventricular echogenicities (PVE) are considered to be at the milder end of the spectrum of PVL, and thus might affect the neurodevelopment of the preterm infants as well. In this retrospective cohort study medical records of 257 preterm infants who were discharged from our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) during October 1996 to August 2000 were reviewed. A total of 114 records of preterm infants fulfilling our criteria were included in the survey. On the basis of the craniosonographic findings and birth history, the candidates were divided into three subgroups: group 1 (control) included infants with normal craniosonographic image during the neonatal period; group 2 included infants with PVEs for < 2 weeks during the neonatal period; group 3 included infants with PVEs> or = 2 weeks during the neonatal period. Neurodevelopmental assessment using the Bayley Scale of Infant Development II at 6, 12, and 18 months of corrected age of each group was compared. There were no significant differences among the three groups in gestational age, birth weight, and gender prevalence. Infants in group 3 had lower Mental Developmental Index and Psychomotor Developmental Index scores as compared with those in groups 1 and 2 at 6 ( p< 0.01), 12 ( p < 0.001), and 18 ( p < 0.01) months of corrected age, respectively. In conclusion, infants with PVEs that persisted for at least a 2-week period have significantly higher risk of delayed developmental outcomes as compared with infants with normal craniosonography or infants with PVEs that persisted for less than 2 weeks. It might be prudent to arrange therapeutic intervention for rehabilitation to these high-risk infants as early as possible to reduce the intensity of possible handicap in the future.