Global hypomethylation in childhood asthma identified by genome-wide DNA-methylation sequencing preferentially affects enhancer regions.

Background: Childhood asthma is a result of a complex interaction of genetic and environmental components causing epigenetic and immune dysregulation, airway inflammation and impaired lung function. Although different microarray based EWAS studies have been conducted, the impact of epigenetic regulation in asthma development is still widely unknown. We have therefore applied unbiased whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) to characterize global DNA-methylation profiles of asthmatic children compared to healthy controls.

The association between physical activity and healthcare costs in children--results from the GINIplus and LISAplus cohort studies.

Background: Physical inactivity in children is an important risk factor for the development of various morbidities and mortality in adulthood, physical activity already has preventive effects during childhood. The objective of this study is to estimate the association between physical activity, healthcare utilization and costs in children.

Methods: Cross-sectional data of 3356 children aged 9 to 12 years were taken from the 10-year follow-up of the birth cohort studies GINIplus and LISAplus, including information on healthcare utilization and physical activity given by parents via self-administered questionnaires.

Sleeping on animal fur is related to asthma outcomes in later childhood.

Animal furs might represent a "proxy" for high and diverse microbial exposures within a critical time window of immune development. We assessed whether sleeping on animal fur shortly after birth is associated with asthma and atopy up to the age of 10 years. LISAplus participants (n=2441) from Munich and Leipzig, Germany, were included in the analysis.

Exposure to visible mould or dampness at home and sleep problems in children: Results from the LISAplus study.

Background: Exposure to mould or dampness at home has been associated with adverse respiratory effects in all age groups. This exposure has also been related to insomnia in adults. We aimed to investigate the association between exposure to visible mould or dampness at home and sleep problems in children.

Serum 25(OH)D concentrations and atopic diseases at age 10: results from the GINIplus and LISAplus birth cohort studies.

Background: Vitamin D is well recognized for its role in skeletal health and its involvement in the modulation of the immune system. In the literature, controversial results are reported for atopic diseases. Thus, we investigated the association between vitamin D status and the prevalence of atopic diseases.

Food intake and overweight in school-aged children in Germany: Results of the GINIplus and LISAplus studies.

Objective: To investigate the cross-sectional association between food intake and overweight in children.

Methods: Height and weight were measured in 2,565 school-aged children. Intakes of 11 food groups were categorized (low, medium and high) using specific tertile cutoffs.

Cesarean delivery and risk of childhood obesity.

Objective: To investigate whether birth by cesarean delivery rather than vaginal delivery is a risk factor for later childhood obesity.

Study Design: Healthy, full-term infants were recruited. Overweight and obesity were defined using measured weight and height according to World Health Organization reference data.

Healthcare use and costs associated with children's behavior problems.

The objective of the study was to investigate associations between severity of behavior problems, specific symptom domains with healthcare use and costs in school-aged children. A cross-sectional study using data from the 10-year follow-up of two population-based birth cohorts was conducted on four rural and urban communities in Germany. There were 3,579 participants [1,834 boys (51%), 1,745 girls (49%)] on average aged 10.

Traffic, asthma and genetics: combining international birth cohort data to examine genetics as a mediator of traffic-related air pollution's impact on childhood asthma.

Associations between traffic-related air pollution and incident childhood asthma can be strengthened by analysis of gene-environment interactions, but studies have typically been limited by lack of study power. We combined data from six birth cohorts on: asthma, eczema and allergic rhinitis to 7/8 years, and candidate genes. Individual-level assessment of traffic-related air pollution exposure was estimated using land use regression or dispersion modeling.

Children with ADHD symptoms have a higher risk for reading, spelling and math difficulties in the GINIplus and LISAplus cohort studies.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia belong to the most common neuro-behavioral childhood disorders with prevalences of around 5% in school-aged children. It is estimated that 20-60% of individuals affected with ADHD also present with learning disorders. We investigated the comorbidity between ADHD symptoms and reading/spelling and math difficulties in two on-going population-based birth cohort studies.

Association of atopic and non-atopic asthma with emotional symptoms in school children.

Objective: To date, there is conflicting evidence whether the association between asthma and depression depends on the atopic or non-atopic asthma phenotype. This study investigates associations between emotional symptoms and atopic and non-atopic asthma in school-aged children.

Methods: Cross-sectional data on asthma and allergic diseases at the 10-year follow-up of two birth cohorts were collected by parent-reported physician diagnoses.

Physical activity and its correlates in children: a cross-sectional study (the GINIplus & LISAplus studies).

Background: Physical inactivity among children is an increasing problem that adversely affects children's health. A better understanding of factors which affect physical activity (PA) will help create effective interventions aimed at raising the activity levels of children. This cross-sectional study examined the associations of PA with individual (biological, social, behavioral, psychological) and environmental (East vs.

No cross-sectional and longitudinal association of ferritin and symptoms of attention-deficit-/hyperactivity disorder in a large population-based sample of children: results from the GINIplus and LISAplus studies.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been associated with alterations in iron metabolism, and low ferritin concentrations in peripheral blood have inconsistently been reported in clinically referred samples of children with ADHD. This study examined whether higher peripheral concentrations of ferritin, the major iron storage protein, are associated with decreased symptoms of ADHD in 2,805 children aged 10 years participating in two large population-based birth cohorts (GINIplus and LISAplus). Whether high ferritin concentrations at age 4 months predict lower ADHD symptoms at age 10 years was also investigated using a longitudinal approach in a subsample of 193 children.

Body mass index trajectory classes and incident asthma in childhood: results from 8 European Birth Cohorts--a Global Allergy and Asthma European Network initiative.

Background: The causal link between body mass index (BMI) or obesity and asthma in children is still being debated. Analyses of large longitudinal studies with a sufficient number of incident cases and in which the time-dependent processes of both excess weight and asthma development can be validly analyzed are lacking.

Objective: We sought to investigate whether the course of BMI predicts incident asthma in childhood.

Exposure to second-hand smoke and direct healthcare costs in children - results from two German birth cohorts, GINIplus and LISAplus.

Background: Although the negative health consequences of the exposure to second hand tobacco smoke during childhood are already known, evidence on the economic consequences is still rare. The aim of this study was to estimate excess healthcare costs of exposure to tobacco smoke in German children.

Methods: The study is based on data from two birth cohort studies of 3,518 children aged 9-11 years with information on healthcare utilisation and tobacco smoke exposure: the GINIplus study (German Infant Study On The Influence Of Nutrition Intervention Plus Environmental And Genetic Influences On Allergy Development) and the LISAplus study (Influence of Life-Style Factors On The Development Of The Immune System And Allergies In East And West Germany Plus The Influence Of Traffic Emissions And Genetics).

Utilization and costs of conventional and alternative pharmaceuticals in children: results from the German GINIplus and LISAplus birth cohort studies.

Purpose: The socioeconomic determinants for drug utilization, especially in children, have not been investigated sufficiently so far. The study's aim was the estimation of prevalences and determinants of conventional, homeopathic and phytotherapeutic drugs and expenditures.

Methods: Population-based data on drug utilization of 3,642 children in two German birth cohorts (GINIplus and LISAplus, 10-year follow-up) were collected using a self-administered questionnaire.

Genetic association between obstructive bronchitis and enzymes of oxidative stress.

Objective: Obstructive respiratory diseases, mainly the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, are associated with functional polymorphisms of xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes (XMEs). To date, association for obstructive bronchitis has not been described.

Material/methods: In this study, we investigated the genotypes from 26 functional polymorphisms of 20 XMEs in children (n, 1028) at the age of 6 years from the German prospective birth cohort study (LISAplus) and analyzed the associations between genotypes and obstructive bronchitis.

Food intake, diet quality and behavioral problems in children: results from the GINI-plus/LISA-plus studies.

Background/aims: To assess the association between food intake and diet quality and behavioral problems at the 10-year follow-up of the two population-based birth cohorts of the studies German Infant Nutritional Intervention and 'Influences of lifestyle-related factors on the immune system and the development of allergies in childhood'.

Methods: Cross-sectional data on food intake over the past year were collected by a parent-reported food frequency questionnaire. Diet quality was based on reference values of food amounts of the optimized mixed diet.

FADS1 FADS2 gene cluster, PUFA intake and blood lipids in children: results from the GINIplus and LISAplus studies.

Background: Elevated cholesterol levels in children can be a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases in later life. In adults, it has been shown that blood lipid levels are strongly influenced by polymorphisms in the fatty acid desaturase (FADS) gene cluster in addition to nutritional and other exogenous and endogenous determinants. Our aim was to investigate whether lipid levels are determined by the FADS genotype already in children and whether this association interacts with dietary intake of n-3 fatty acids.

Peak growth velocity in infancy is positively associated with blood pressure in school-aged children.

Objectives: Rapid growth velocity in early life may be a risk factor for obesity, elevated blood pressure, and adverse metabolic markers in childhood, but results are not consistent. We analysed the association between peak growth velocity during the first 2 years of life and blood pressure, fasting glucose and insulin at 10 years of age.

Methods: A prospective German birth cohort (LISAplus) provided data on growth, blood pressure, glucose, and insulin for 1127 children up to the age of 10 years.

Indoor factors and behavioural problems in children: the GINIplus and LISAplus birth cohort studies.

Indoor microbial agents exposure is associated to depressive symptoms in adults and persistent exposure to indoor mould is associated to poorer cognitive function in children. In our study, we aimed to assess the effects of the exposure to indoor factors associated with increased microbial exposure (mould, dampness and pets) on behavioural problems in children aged 10 years, participating in two German birth cohorts. A total of 4860 children were followed until the age of 10 years, and the strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) was administered to the parents.

The hygiene hypothesis does not apply to atopic eczema in childhood.

There is evidence that environmental factors are important for the development of eczema. Different mechanisms have been discussed in the literature, the best known of which is the hygiene hypothesis. However, epidemiological data give reason for questioning this hypothesis with regard to childhood eczema.

Predictive value of food sensitization and filaggrin mutations in children with eczema.

Background: It was reported that in infants with eczema and food sensitization, the presence of a filaggrin (FLG) null mutation predicts future asthma with a specificity and positive predictive value of 100%.

Objectives: We sought to evaluate the predictive value of food sensitization and food allergy, FLG haploinsufficiency, and their combination in infants with early-onset eczema for persistent eczema and childhood asthma.

Methods: The German Infant Nutritional Intervention (GINI) and Influence of Lifestyle-related Factors on the Immune System and the Development of Allergies in Childhood (LISA) birth cohorts, as well as a collection of 65 cases of early-onset eczema with and without food allergy were investigated.

Passive smoking and behavioural problems in children: results from the LISAplus prospective birth cohort study.

Objective: To analyse the association between pre- and postnatal exposure to tobacco smoke and child behavioural problems and to further investigate the influence of trimester-specific exposure to maternal smoking and the impact of paternal smoking at home on the same outcome.

Methods: Data of 3097 German children recruited at birth for a population-based, prospective study were used. Detailed information on children's tobacco smoke exposure was collected by self-administered questionnaires at each follow-up.