Breastfeeding, the use of docosahexaenoic acid-fortified formulas in infancy and neuropsychological function in childhood.

Objective: To investigate the relation between breastfeeding, use of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)-fortified formula and neuropsychological function in children.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Southampton, UK.

Myopia and polymorphisms in genes for matrix metalloproteinases.

Purpose: To investigate the relation between myopia and variations in three genes coding for matrix metalloproteinases, enzymes that degrade matrix proteins and modulate scleral extensibility.

Methods: Three hundred sixty-six men and women, from Sheffield, United Kingdom, were genotyped for the 1G/2G polymorphism in the MMP-1 gene, the 5A/6A polymorphism in the MMP-3 gene and the Arg-->Gln polymorphism in exon 6 of the MMP-9 gene and assessed for refractive error.

Results: Risk of myopia was increased in people homozygous for the 5A allele of the MMP-3 gene (odds ratio [OR], 3.

Dietary patterns in infancy and cognitive and neuropsychological function in childhood.

Background: Trials in developing countries suggest that improving young children's diet may benefit cognitive development. Whether dietary composition influences young children's cognition in developed countries is unclear. Although many studies have examined the relation between type of milk received in infancy and subsequent cognition, there has been no investigation of the possible effect of variations in the weaning diet.

Grip strength, body composition, and mortality.

Background: Several studies in older people have shown that grip strength predicts all-cause mortality. The mechanisms are unclear. Muscle strength declines with age, accompanied by a loss of muscle mass and an increase in fat, but the role that body composition plays in the association between grip strength and mortality has been little explored.

The influence of head growth in fetal life, infancy, and childhood on intelligence at the ages of 4 and 8 years.

Objective: We investigated the effects of head growth prenatally, during infancy, and during later periods of development on cognitive function at the ages of 4 and 8 years.

Methods: We studied 633 term-born children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort whose head circumference was measured at birth and at regular intervals thereafter. Their cognitive function was assessed with the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence at the age of 4 years and with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children at the age of 8 years.

Maternal diet during pregnancy and carotid intima-media thickness in children.

Objective: Autopsy studies show that intimal lipid accumulations in arteries are often present at birth, suggesting that the prenatal environment plays a role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. In animal models, a restricted or unbalanced maternal diet during gestation can influence susceptibility to atherosclerosis, but the relation in humans between maternal diet during pregnancy and atherogenesis is unknown.

Methods And Results: We measured carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in 216 nine-year-old children whose mothers had participated in a study of nutrition during pregnancy.

Birth weight and cardiac structure in children.

Objective: Epidemiologic studies have shown associations between impaired fetal growth and risk for coronary heart disease in adults. The underlying mechanisms are unknown. We investigated whether restricted intrauterine growth affects cardiac structure.

Circulating levels of MCP-1 and eotaxin are not associated with presence of atherosclerosis or previous myocardial infarction.

The chemokines are a family of signalling proteins that participate in regulation of the immune system and have been implicated in the pathogenesis of vascular diseases. Deleting the gene encoding the chemokine MCP-1 in mouse models of atherosclerosis reduces lipid lesion formation and circulating chemokines are upregulated in man immediately following myocardial infarction (MI) or coronary angioplasty. We have therefore investigated whether circulating levels of two chemokines (MCP-1 and eotaxin) differ between subjects with and without atherosclerosis.

An epidemiological study of renal pathology in tuberous sclerosis complex.

Objectives: To report the frequency of renal symptoms and complications of patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), to describe the ultrasonographic appearance of the kidneys in a population-based sample, and to investigate the relationship between a history of renal haemorrhage and renal lesions identified by ultrasonography.

Patients And Methods: As part of an epidemiological study, 179 patients with TSC were identified as living in the Wessex Region in the South of England. Patients were interviewed and examined in their homes, to elicit the presence of renal symptoms or a history of renal complications.

Birth weight and later risk of depression in a national birth cohort.

Background: Low birth weight increases the risk of childhood behavioural problems, but it is not clear whether poor foetal growth has a long-term influence on susceptibility to depression.

Aims: To examine the relation between birth weight and risk of psychological distress and depression.

Method: At age 16 years 5187 participants in the 1970 British Cohort Study completed the 12-item General Health Questionnaire to assess psychological distress.

Critical periods of brain growth and cognitive function in children.

There is evidence that IQ tends to be higher in those who were heavier at birth or who grew taller in childhood and adolescence. Although these findings imply that growth in both foetal and postnatal life influences cognitive performance, little is known about the relative importance of brain growth during different periods of development. We investigated the relationship between brain growth in different periods of pre- and postnatal life and cognitive function in 221 9-year-old children whose mothers had taken part in a study of nutrition in pregnancy and whose head circumference had been measured at 18 weeks gestation, birth and 9 months of age.

Variation in the matrix metalloproteinase-1 gene and risk of coronary heart disease.

Aims: Matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1), a proteolytic enzyme able to degrade types I and III collagens, is present in atherosclerotic lesions but absent from the normal blood vessel wall. The recent observation that, in a transgenic mouse model, MMP-1 gene expression slows the development and progression of atherosclerotic plaques suggests that it may play a role in human atherogenesis. We investigated whether coronary heart disease was associated with a functional polymorphism in the human MMP-1 gene.

Foetal and postnatal head growth and risk of cognitive decline in old age.

Studies of elderly people have shown that scores on tests of cognitive function tend to be higher in those with larger head circumferences. One explanation for these findings is that optimal brain development in utero and in the first years of life may protect against cognitive decline in old age, though the relative importance of these two periods of brain growth is unclear. We assessed change in cognitive function over a 3.

Lutein and zeaxanthin status and risk of age-related macular degeneration.

Purpose: To investigate the relation between plasma concentrations of lutein and zeaxanthin and age-related macular degeneration in a group of elderly men and women.

Methods: The Wisconsin Age-Related Maculopathy Grading System was used to grade features of early and late macular degeneration in 380 men and women, aged 66 to 75 years, from Sheffield, United Kingdom. Fasting blood samples were taken to assess plasma concentrations of lutein and zeaxanthin.

Relation between size at birth and risk of age-related macular degeneration.

Purpose: To determine whether poor fetal growth, as determined by size at birth, is associated with increased risk of age-related macular degeneration.

Methods: A total of 660 men and women born in Sheffield, United Kingdom, between 1922 and 1930 and whose size at birth was available were traced and invited to take part in the study. Of these, 392 attended for ophthalmic examination.

Validation of a device to measure arterial pulse wave velocity by a photoplethysmographic method.

We aimed to validate a new method for measuring arterial pulsewave transit time and pulsewave velocity (a measure of arterial elasticity), based on the principle of photoplethysmography (PPG), and to compare transcutaneous values with those obtained by intra-arterial measurements. Three validation experiments are described. (a) PPG pulse wave delay times (defined as the time interval between the ECG R wave and the foot of the arterial pulse wave measured at the wrist or ankle) were compared to values obtained simultaneously from an established methodology (Doppler ultrasound).

Size at birth and carotid atherosclerosis in later life.

Several studies have shown that low birthweight is associated with a higher risk of stroke and coronary heart disease in later life. Increased atherogenesis may be one underlying mechanism, but few studies have examined this directly. We used duplex ultrasonography to assess the extra-cranial carotid arteries of 389 elderly men and women born and still living in Sheffield, UK, whose recorded birth measurements were available.

Left ventricular mass and arterial compliance: relation to coronary heart disease and its risk factors in South Indian adults.

Background: Rates of coronary heart disease (CHD) in India are rising, and are now similar to those in Western countries. The prevalence of conventional CHD risk factors such as hypercholesterolaemia, hypertension, smoking and obesity, tend to be lower in Indian than Western populations, and fail to explain these high rates of disease. Increased left ventricular (LV) mass and decreased arterial compliance predict a higher risk of CHD in Western populations, but there are no published data from India.