Association between trimester-specific prenatal air pollution exposure and placental weight of twins.

Introduction: This study investigates the association between maternal exposure to particulate matter (PM) and nitric dioxide (NO) during the first, second and third trimester and placental weight and birth weight/placental weight (BW/PW) ratio in twins at birth.

Methods: Cross-sectional data of 3340 twins from the East Flanders Prospective Twin Survey was used. Air pollutant exposure was estimated via spatial temporal interpolation.

Maternal perceived stress and green spaces during pregnancy are associated with adult offspring gene (NR3C1 and IGF2/H19) methylation patterns in adulthood: A pilot study.

Background: Changes in NR3C1 and IGF2/H19 methylation patterns have been associated with behavioural and psychiatric outcomes. Maternal mental state has been associated with offspring NR3C1 promotor and IGF2/H19 imprinting control region (ICR) methylation patterns. However, there is a lack of prospective studies with long-term follow-up.

Exploring the impact of lifestyle and environmental exposures on appetite hormone levels in children and adolescents: An observational study.

Background: Appetite hormones are considered a promising target in fighting obesity as impaired appetite hormone levels have already been associated with obesity. However, further insights in the drivers of appetite hormone levels are needed.

Objectives: In this study, we investigated the associations of fasting appetite hormone levels with lifestyle and environmental exposures in children and adolescents.

Exposure to Residential Green Space and Bone Mineral Density in Young Children.

Importance: Bone mass accrual is influenced by environmental and lifestyle factors. Targeted interventions at the early stages of life might decrease fracture and/or osteoporosis risk later in life.

Objective: To investigate whether early-life exposure to residential surrounding green space is associated with a change in bone mineral density in young children.

Birth outcomes of twins after multifetal pregnancy reduction compared with primary twins.

Background: The introduction of assisted reproductive technology and the trend of increasing maternal age at conception have contributed to a significant rise in the incidence of multiple pregnancies. Multiple pregnancies bear several inherent risks for both mother and child. These risks increase with plurality and type of chorionicity.

Association of air pollution and green space with all-cause general practitioner and emergency room visits: A cross-sectional study of young people and adults living in Belgium.

Background: Residing in areas with lower levels of air pollution and higher green space is beneficial to physical and mental health. We investigated associations of PM, tree cover and grass cover with in-hours and out-of-hours GP visits and ER visits, for young people and adults. We estimated potential cost savings of GP visits attributable to high PM.

Pre-admission ambient air pollution and blood soot particles predict hospitalisation outcomes in COVID-19 patients.

Background: Air pollution exposure is one of the major risk factors for aggravation of respiratory diseases. We investigated whether exposure to air pollution and accumulated black carbon (BC) particles in blood were associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease severity, including the risk for intensive care unit (ICU) admission and duration of hospitalisation.

Methods: From May 2020 until March 2021, 328 hospitalised COVID-19 patients (29% at intensive care) were recruited from two hospitals in Belgium.

Residential green space improves cognitive performances in primary schoolchildren independent of traffic-related air pollution exposure.

Background: Cognitive performances of schoolchildren have been adversely associated with both recent and chronic exposure to ambient air pollution at the residence. In addition, growing evidence indicates that exposure to green space is associated with a wide range of health benefits. Therefore, we aimed to investigate if surrounding green space at the residence improves cognitive performance of primary schoolchildren while taking into account air pollution exposure.

Epigenome-wide analysis of maternal exposure to green space during gestation and cord blood DNA methylation in the ENVIRONAGE cohort.

Background: DNA methylation programming is sensitive to prenatal life environmental influences, but the impact of maternal exposure to green space on newborns DNA methylation has not been studied yet.

Methods: We conducted a meta-epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) of maternal exposure to green space during gestation with cord blood DNA methylation in two subsets of the ENVIRONAGE cohort (N = 538). Cord blood DNA methylation was measured by Illumina HumanMethylation 450K in one subset (N = 189) and EPICarray in another (N = 349).

Higher proportion of agricultural land use around the residence is associated with higher urinary concentrations of AMPA, a glyphosate metabolite.

Introduction: Pesticides, including herbicides, are widely used for agricultural and sanitary reasons and concerns have been raised about their various health effects. Little research has been done into the extent to which agricultural land use in the residential surroundings contributes to (internal) exposure of pesticides.

Objectives: We investigated the associations between the proportion of agricultural land use around the residence and the exposure to pesticides in adolescents in Flanders (Belgium).

Methylome-wide analysis of IVF neonates that underwent embryo culture in different media revealed no significant differences.

A growing number of children born are conceived through in vitro fertilisation (IVF), which has been linked to an increased risk of adverse perinatal outcomes, as well as altered growth profiles and cardiometabolic differences in the resultant individuals. Some of these outcomes have also been shown to be influenced by the use of different IVF culture media and this effect is hypothesised to be mediated epigenetically, e.g.

Residential green space in association with the methylation status in a CpG site within the promoter region of the placental serotonin receptor .

Green space could influence adult cognition and childhood neurodevelopment , and is hypothesized to be partly driven by epigenetic modifications. However, it remains unknown whether some of these associations are already evident during foetal development. Similar biological signals shape the developmental processes in the foetal brain and placenta.

A multi-exposure approach to study telomere dynamics in childhood: A role for residential green space and waist circumference.

Background: Telomeres are vulnerable to various environmental exposures and lifestyle factors, encompassed in the exposome. Recent research shows that telomere length is substantially determined early in life and that exposures in childhood may have important consequences in setting later life telomere length.

Objectives: We explore in a child population the associations of 17 exposures with telomere length and longitudinal telomere change.

Higher buccal mtDNA content is associated with residential surrounding green in a panel study of primary school children.

Background: Mitochondria are known to respond to environmental stressors but whether green space is associated with mitochondrial abundance is unexplored. Furthermore, as exposures may affect health from early life onwards, we here evaluate if residential green space is associated with mitochondria DNA content (mtDNAc) in children.

Methods: In primary schoolchildren (COGNAC study), between 2012 and 2014, buccal mtDNAc was repeatedly (three times) assessed using qPCR.

Indoor green can modify the indoor dust microbial communities.

Little is known about the potential role of indoor plants in shaping the indoor microbiota. Within the ENVIRONAGE birth cohort, we collected settled dust and performed 16S and ITS amplicon sequencing and qPCR measurements to characterize the indoor microbiota, including bacterial and fungal loads and Chao1 richness, Shannon, and Simpson diversity indices. For 155 households, we obtained information on the number of indoor plants.

Early life exposure to residential green space impacts cognitive functioning in children aged 4 to 6 years.

Introduction: During early childhood, neuronal networks are highly susceptible to environmental factors. Previous research suggests that green space exposure is beneficial for cognitive functioning. Here, we investigate the associations between residential green space exposure and behavioral problems and cognitive development in children aged four to six years.

Residential green space is associated with a buffering effect on stress responses during the COVID-19 pandemic in mothers of young children, a prospective study.

Green spaces are associated with increased well-being and reduced risk of developing psychiatric disorders. In this study, we aimed to investigate how residential proximity to green spaces was associated with stress response buffering during the COVID-19 pandemic in a prospective cohort of young mothers. We collected information on stress in 766 mothers (mean age: 36.

Higher surrounding green space is associated with better attention in Flemish adolescents.

Introduction: Previous studies suggested that green space is beneficial for the cognitive development in children. However, evidence in adolescents is limited. Therefore, we aim to investigate green space exposure in association with attention and behaviour in adolescents.

Determinants of Chronic Biological Stress, Measured as Hair Cortisol Concentration, in a General Population of Adolescents: From Individual and Household Characteristics to Neighborhood Urbanicity.

Chronic biological stress may adversely affect adolescents' physical and mental health, but insight in the personal and environmental factors that determine chronic stress is limited. We measured 3-month cumulative hair cortisol concentration (HCC) in 419 adolescents, participating in the Flemish Environment and Health Study. Adolescents' health and lifestyle characteristics, household and neighborhood socio-economic status as well as neighborhood urbanicity were assessed as potential determinants of HCC, using multiple linear regression models.

Urinary Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Metabolites Are Associated with Biomarkers of Chronic Endocrine Stress, Oxidative Stress, and Inflammation in Adolescents: FLEHS-4 (2016-2020).

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are environmental pollutants of public health concern. Multiple biological mechanisms have been hypothesized to contribute to PAHs-associated adverse health effects. Little is known about the impact of PAHs on endocrine stress and inflammation in adolescence.

Glomerular function in relation to fine airborne particulate matter in a representative population sample.

From 1990 until 2017, global air-pollution related mortality increased by 40%. Few studies addressed the renal responses to ultrafine particulate [≤ 2.5 µm (PM2.

Long-term residential exposure to air pollution is associated with hair cortisol concentration and differential leucocyte count in Flemish adolescent boys.

Background: Exposure to air pollution and traffic noise are associated with adverse health outcomes in adolescents. Chronic endocrine stress and systemic inflammation have been hypothesized to underlie the adverse health effects. Simultaneous assessment of inflammation and chronic endocrine stress in epidemiological studies is lacking.

Residential green space can shape the indoor microbial environment.

Background: The influence of outdoor green space on microbial communities indoors has scarcely been investigated. Here, we study the associations between nearby residential green space and residential indoor microbiota.

Methods: We collected settled dust from 176 living rooms of participants of the ENVIRONAGE birth cohort.