Production, characterization, and immunogenicity of a secreted form of Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein 4 produced in Bacillus subtilis.

Plasmodium falciparum is the causative agent of the most serious form of malaria. Although a combination of control measures has significantly limited malaria morbidity and mortality in the last few years, it is generally agreed that sustained control or even eradication will require additional tools including an effective malaria vaccine. Merozoite surface protein 4, MSP4, which is present during the asexual stage of P.

The dietary n6:n3 fatty acid ratio during pregnancy is inversely associated with child neurodevelopment in the EDEN mother-child cohort.

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) of the n6 (ω6) and n3 series are essential for the development of a child's brain. Fetal LC-PUFA exposure as well as infant exposure via breast milk depend on the maternal intake of these LC-PUFAs and of their respective dietary precursors (PUFAs). We aimed to investigate the associations between maternal LC-PUFA and PUFA [(LC)PUFA] dietary intake during pregnancy and child neurodevelopment at ages 2 and 3 y.

The influence of early feeding practices on fruit and vegetable intake among preschool children in 4 European birth cohorts.

Background: Fruit and vegetable intake in children remains below recommendations in many countries. The long-term effects of early parental feeding practices on fruit and vegetable intake are not clearly established.

Objective: The purpose of the current study was to examine whether early feeding practices influence later fruit and vegetable intake in preschool children.

[Developmental origins of adult health and disease: an important concept for social inequalities in health].

According to the theory of the developmental origins of adult health and disease, development in utero and in the first years of life are critical phases during which susceptibility to many chronic diseases is set. Diseases eventually occur only if the environment and lifestyle in later life is favorable. Exposure to chemicals (environmental or drug), to infectious agents, unbalanced nutrition, or psychosocial stress prenatally or in the first months/years of life are all factors which have been shown to impact long-term health of individuals.

Cross-sectional associations of objectively measured physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness and anthropometry in European adults.

Objective: To quantify the independent associations between objectively measured physical activity (PA), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and anthropometry in European men and women.

Methods: 2,056 volunteers from 12 centers across Europe were fitted with a heart rate and movement sensor at 2 visits 4 months apart for a total of 8 days. CRF (ml/kg/min) was estimated from an 8 minute ramped step test.

Pregnancy and birth cohort resources in europe: a large opportunity for aetiological child health research.

Background: During the past 25 years, many pregnancy and birth cohorts have been established. Each cohort provides unique opportunities for examining associations of early-life exposures with child development and health. However, to fully exploit the large amount of available resources and to facilitate cross-cohort collaboration, it is necessary to have accessible information on each cohort and its individual characteristics.

Exposure to food contaminants during pregnancy.

During pregnancy, the fetus is exposed to contaminants from its mother's diet. This work provides an assessment of the dietary exposure of pregnant women to inorganic contaminants (aluminum, mercury, lead, inorganic arsenic, cobalt), polychlorodibenzodioxins, polychlorodibenzofurans, dioxin-like and non-dioxin-like polychlorobiphenyls (DL-PCBs, NDL-PCBs), polybromodiphenyl ethers (PBDEs), perfluoroalkyl acids, mycotoxins (zearalenone, patulin, trichothecenes), and heat-generated compounds (acrylamide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). Consumption data of 2002 pregnant women aged 18 to 45 from the EDEN cohort study were combined with contamination data from the second French total diet study to assess the exposure before pregnancy (n=1861) and during the third trimester of pregnancy (n=1775).

On the efficacy of malaria DNA vaccination with magnetic gene vectors.

We investigated the efficacy and types of immune responses from plasmid malaria DNA vaccine encoding VR1020-PyMSP119 condensed on the surface of polyethyleneimine (PEI)-coated SPIONs. In vivo mouse studies were done firstly to determine the optimum magnetic vector composition, and then to observe immune responses elicited when magnetic vectors were introduced via different administration routes. Higher serum antibody titers against PyMSP119 were observed with intraperitoneal and intramuscular injections than subcutaneous and intradermal injections.

Blood microbiota dysbiosis is associated with the onset of cardiovascular events in a large general population: the D.E.S.I.R. study.

Aim: We recently described a human blood microbiome and a connection between this microbiome and the onset of diabetes. The aim of the current study was to assess the association between blood microbiota and incident cardiovascular disease.

Methods And Results: D.

Breastfeeding duration and cognitive development at 2 and 3 years of age in the EDEN mother-child cohort.

Objective: To investigate the dose-response relationship between breastfeeding duration and cognitive development in French preschool children.

Study Design: In the French EDEN Mother-Child Cohort Study, we evaluated language ability with the Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) in 1387 2-year-old children and overall development with the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) in 1199 3-year-old children. Assessments were compared between breastfed and non-breastfed children and also according to breastfeeding duration in multivariable linear models, controlling for a wide range of potential confounders.

Infant feeding patterns over the first year of life: influence of family characteristics.

Background/objectives: Early eating patterns and behaviors can determine later eating habits and food preferences and they have been related to the development of childhood overweight and obesity. We aimed to identify patterns of feeding in the first year of life and to examine their associations with family characteristics.

Subjects/methods: Our analysis included 1004 infants from the EDEN mother-child cohort.

Geneious plugins for the access of PlasmoDB and PiroplasmaDB databases.

The bioinformatics software, Geneious, provides a useful platform for researchers to retrieve and analyse genomic and functional genomics information. However, the main databases that the software is able to access are hosted by NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information). The databases of EuPathDB (Eukaryotic Pathogen Database Resources), such as PlasmoDB and PiroplasmaDB, collect more specific and detailed information about eukaryotic pathogens than those kept in NCBI databases.

An educational package that supports laycarers to safely manage breakthrough subcutaneous injections for home-based palliative care patients: development and evaluation of a service quality improvement.

Background: Palliative care services strive to support people to live and die well in their chosen environment, with optimal symptom control and a pattern of care supportive of laycarers. The likelihood of patients remaining at home often depends upon laycarers, who may be required to manage subcutaneous medications.

Aim And Design: This study reports the development, trial and evaluation of a package that teaches laycarers to manage subcutaneous medications used for symptom control in home-based patients.

A review of methods to assess parental feeding practices and preschool children's eating behavior: the need for further development of tools.

We reviewed tools developed to measure parental feeding practices and eating behavior and food intake or preferences of children aged 0 to 5 years. Two electronic literature databases (Medline and Psycinfo) were used to search for both observational and experimental studies in human beings. The articles selected for review were those presenting tools with data on internal consistency and/or test-retest reliability and/or construct validity.

Association between maternal blood cadmium during pregnancy and birth weight and the risk of fetal growth restriction: the EDEN mother-child cohort study.

The objective of this study is to investigate the potential effect of maternal environmental cadmium (Cd) exposure on birth weight and fetal growth restriction (FGR). A total of 901 pregnant women from the EDEN cohort study were enrolled from two maternity units. Blood Cd was measured at mid-pregnancy and associations with birth weight and FGR were analyzed.

Pregnancy exposure to atmospheric pollutants and placental weight: an approach relying on a dispersion model.

Background: Epidemiologic studies suggest an association between air pollution exposure and foetal growth. The possible underlying biological mechanisms have little been studied in humans, but animal studies suggest an impact of atmospheric pollutants on placental function.

Objectives: Our aim was to investigate the association between exposure to atmospheric pollutants' levels during pregnancy and placental weight, birth weight and the placental to foetal weights ratio (PFR).

Specific role of maternal weight change in the first trimester of pregnancy on birth size.

The specific role of weight change in the first weeks of gestation in fetal growth has not been fully explored in humans. Our aims were to investigate: (1) the specific association between weight change in the first trimester of pregnancy (WCT1) and size at birth in term pregnancies; and (2) the role of placental weight in this relationship. From 2002 women included in the French EDEN study, 1744 mother-child pairs reached term, had pre-pregnancy weight available and at least five measures of weight in pregnancy.

Breastfeeding duration, social and occupational characteristics of mothers in the French 'EDEN mother-child' cohort.

Socio-demographic characteristics of mothers have been associated with exclusive breastfeeding duration, but little is known about the association with maternal full- and part-time employment and return to work in European countries. To study the associations between breastfeeding, any and almost exclusive (infants receiving breast milk as their only milk) breastfeeding, at 4 months of infant's age and the socio-demographic and occupational characteristics of mothers. We used the EDEN mother-child cohort, a prospective study of 2002 singleton pregnant women in two French university hospitals.

New molecular insights into CETP structure and function: a review.

Cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) is important clinically and is the current target for new drug development. Its structure and mechanism of action has not been well understood. We have combined current new structural and functional methods to compare with relevant prior data.

Determinants of infant formula use and relation with growth in the first 4 months.

The wide variety of infant formula available on the market can be confusing for parents and physicians. We aimed to determine associations between predominant type of formula used from birth to 4 months and parental and child characteristics and type of physician consulted, and then to describe relations between type of formula used and growth. Our analyses included 1349 infants from the EDEN mother-child cohort.

Supra-physiological folic acid concentrations induce aberrant DNA methylation in normal human cells in vitro.

The micronutrients folate and selenium may modulate DNA methylation patterns by affecting intracellular levels of the methyl donor S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) and/or the product of methylation reactions S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH). WI-38 fibroblasts and FHC colon epithelial cells were cultured in the presence of two forms of folate or four forms of selenium at physiologically-relevant doses, and their effects on LINE-1 methylation, gene-specific CpG island (CGI) methylation and intracellular SAM:SAH were determined. At physiologically-relevant doses the forms of folate or selenium had no effect on LINE-1 or CGI methylation, nor on intracellular SAM:SAH.

Correcting for the influence of sampling conditions on biomarkers of exposure to phenols and phthalates: a 2-step standardization method based on regression residuals.

Background: Environmental epidemiology and biomonitoring studies typically rely on biological samples to assay the concentration of non-persistent exposure biomarkers. Between-participant variations in sampling conditions of these biological samples constitute a potential source of exposure misclassification. Few studies attempted to correct biomarker levels for this error.

δ(15)N and δ(13)C in hair from newborn infants and their mothers: a cohort study.

Introduction: Protein intake in fetal life or infancy may play a key role in determining early growth rate, a determinant of later health and disease. Previous work has indicated that hair isotopic composition is influenced by diet and protein intake.

Methods: This study analyzes the isotopic composition of hair obtained from 239 mother/newborn pairs randomly selected within a larger cohort enrolled in a study of pre- and postnatal determinants of the child's development and health.

Depression and anxiety in women during pregnancy and neonatal outcome: data from the EDEN mother-child cohort.

Background: According to the World Health Organization, mental health disorders are the leading causes of disease burden in women from 15 to 44 years. These conditions in pregnant women may affect the offspring.

Aim: To analyze the relation between depression and anxiety of pregnant women and neonatal outcomes including gestational age and birthweight.