Quantification of Airborne Particulate Matter and Trace Element Deposition on and Leaves.

In both developed and developing countries, atmospheric pollution with particulate matter (PM) remains an important issue. Despite the health effects of poor air quality, studies on air pollution are often limited by the high costs of continuous monitoring and the need for extensive sampling. Furthermore, these particles are often enriched with potentially toxic trace elements and organic pollutants.

Phytomanagement of trace element polluted fields with aromatic plants: supporting circular bio-economies.

Trace elements pollution of soils became a global concern because of their persistence in the environment which can lead to accumulation in food chains up to toxic levels. At the same time, there is a shortage of arable land for growing food, fodder and industrial crops, which highlights the need for remediation/use of polluted land. Restoration of degraded lands has been included as a vital component of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Associations between long-chain PUFAs in maternal blood, cord blood, and breast milk and offspring body composition up to 5 years: follow-up from the INFAT study.

Background/objectives: Limited research suggests that exposure to long-chain PUFAs (LCPUFAs) during perinatal development can influence adipose tissue expansion later in life. In previous analyses, we observed that maternal LCPUFAs in late gestation promote offspring gestational growth, whereas breast milk n-3 LCPUFAS promote adipogenesis in infants up to 1 year. This follow-up analysis examines these relationships in offspring up to 5 years.

Longitudinal sonographic assessment of abdominal fat distribution from 2 to 5 years of age.

Background: To better understand children's adipose tissue (AT) development and distribution, longitudinal data from direct assessment methods are valuable. Previously, we reported sonographic data on abdominal subcutaneous and preperitoneal fat areas ≤1 year of age.

Methods: Sonographic measurements were annually pursued to assess the development of fat compartments in 2-5 year-old children.

Impact of Dietary Macronutrient Intake during Early and Late Gestation on Offspring Body Composition at Birth, 1, 3, and 5 Years of Age.

Dietary intake during pregnancy as a possible modifiable risk factor for childhood obesity is poorly explored. In a prospective observational study, two multivariable regression models were therefore used to associate maternal diet at 15 and 32 weeks’ gestation with offsprings’ body composition and fat distribution at birth, 1, 3, and 5 years. Mean energy intake was 2157 ± 375 kcal ( = 186) in early and 2208 ± 460 kcal ( = 167) in late gestation.

Efficacy of vildagliptin for prevention of postpartum diabetes in women with a recent history of insulin-requiring gestational diabetes: A phase II, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Objective: Women with insulin-requiring gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are at high risk of developing diabetes within a few years postpartum. We implemented this phase II study to test the hypothesis that vildagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor, is superior to placebo in terms of reducing the risk of postpartum diabetes.

Methods: Women with insulin-requiring GDM were randomized to either placebo or 50 mg vildagliptin twice daily for 24 months followed by a 12-month observation period (EudraCT: 2007-000634-39).

Leptin in Maternal Plasma and Cord Blood as a Predictor of Offspring Adiposity at 5 Years: A Follow-up Study.

Objective: Perinatal leptin exposure may modulate the risk of adiposity in early childhood. In previous analyses, negative associations between maternal (32 weeks' gestation) and cord blood leptin and offspring body composition at 2 years were observed.

Methods: Associations between maternal/cord blood leptin were assessed with indirect (i.

Metabolite ratios as potential biomarkers for type 2 diabetes: a DIRECT study.

Aims/hypothesis: Circulating metabolites have been shown to reflect metabolic changes during the development of type 2 diabetes. In this study we examined the association of metabolite levels and pairwise metabolite ratios with insulin responses after glucose, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and arginine stimulation. We then investigated if the identified metabolite ratios were associated with measures of OGTT-derived beta cell function and with prevalent and incident type 2 diabetes.

Cord blood and child plasma adiponectin levels in relation to childhood obesity risk and fat distribution up to 5 y.

Background: Few human studies have explored the role of adiponectin in early life on growth and adipose tissue development.

Methods: High molecular weight (HMW) and total adiponectin levels from 141 cord blood samples and plasma blood samples from 40 3-y-old children were analyzed. Associations between adiponectin levels in cord blood and child plasma, and infant/child growth and fat mass measurements up to the age of 5 y were assessed using linear regression models.

The relationship between breast milk leptin and adiponectin with child body composition from 3 to 5 years: a follow-up study.

Background: Research indicates that breast milk contains bioactive components that influence metabolism in infancy and may play a role in the prevention of obesity in early childhood. In our initial study, 147 breastfeeding mother/child pairs were followed from birth to 2 years of age to examine the relationship between breast milk leptin and total adiponectin (collected at 6 weeks and 4 months postpartum) and infant body composition. Higher breast milk total adiponectin was related to greater fat mass and weight gain in children at 1 and 2 years of age, whereas leptin showed no association.

Lactation is associated with altered metabolomic signatures in women with gestational diabetes.

Aims/hypothesis: Lactation for >3 months in women with gestational diabetes is associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes that persists for up to 15 years postpartum. However, the underlying mechanisms are unknown. We examined whether in women with gestational diabetes lactation for >3 months is associated with altered metabolomic signatures postpartum.

Clinical benefit of midodrine hydrochloride in symptomatic orthostatic hypotension: a phase 4, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, tilt-table study.

Objective: Midodrine hydrochloride is a short-acting pressor agent that raises blood pressure in the upright position in patients with orthostatic hypotension. The US Food and Drug Administration's Subpart H approval, under which midodrine was initially approved, requires post-marketing studies to confirm midodrine's clinical benefit in this indication. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical benefit of midodrine with regard to symptom response.

Reduction of the n-6:n-3 long-chain PUFA ratio during pregnancy and lactation on offspring body composition: follow-up results from a randomized controlled trial up to 5 y of age.

Background: It has been hypothesized that the n-6:n-3 (ω-6:ω-3) long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) ratio in the maternal diet during the prenatal and early postnatal phase positively affects the body composition of the offspring. However, only limited data from prospective human intervention studies with long-term follow-up are available.

Objective: We assessed the long-term effects of a reduced n-6:n-3 LCPUFA ratio in the diets of pregnant and lactating women [1020 mg docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) plus 180 mg eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)/d together with an arachidonic acid-balanced diet compared with a control diet] on the body weights and compositions of their offspring from 2 to 5 y of age with a focus on the 5-y results.

Risk Stratification in Women with Gestational Diabetes According to and Beyond Current WHO Criteria.

The pregnancy outcomes in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and 'overt diabetes in pregnancy' were compared and the need for further subclassification was investigated with respect to postpartum outcome risk. Data from 944 women who had been uniformly diagnosed as having GDM in Munich, Germany, between 1998 and 2010, were re-classified into GDM and 'overt diabetes in pregnancy'. Pregnancy related outcomes in the offspring were derived from Bavarian birth registry data.

Sonographic assessment of abdominal fat distribution during the first year of infancy.

Background: Longitudinal data regarding the fat distribution in the early postnatal period is sparse.

Methods: We performed ultrasonography (US) as a noninvasive approach to investigate the development of abdominal subcutaneous (SC) and preperitoneal (PP) fat depots in infants ≤1 y and compared longitudinal US data with skinfold thickness (SFT) measurements and anthropometry in 162 healthy children at 6 wk, 4 mo, and 1 y postpartum.

Results: US was found to be a reproducible method for the quantification of abdominal SC and PP adipose tissue (AT) in this age group.

Accuracy and reproducibility of adipose tissue measurements in young infants by whole body magnetic resonance imaging.

Purpose: MR might be well suited to obtain reproducible and accurate measures of fat tissues in infants. This study evaluates MR-measurements of adipose tissue in young infants in vitro and in vivo.

Material And Methods: MR images of ten phantoms simulating subcutaneous fat of an infant's torso were obtained using a 1.

Human placental transcriptome shows sexually dimorphic gene expression and responsiveness to maternal dietary n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid intervention during pregnancy.

Background: Previously we have examined the effect of maternal dietary n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) supplementation during pregnancy on offspring fat mass. Considering the involvement of the placenta in fetal programming, we aimed to analyze the sex-specific gene expression in human term placenta and its response to the n-3 LCPUFA intervention, as well as their correlations to offspring adiposity.

Results: Placental gene expression was assessed in a control and n-3 LCPUFA intervention group by DNA microarrays, biological pathway analyses and RT-qPCR validation.

Beneficial effects of breastfeeding in women with gestational diabetes mellitus.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) increases the future risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). There is now a growing evidence that breastfeeding has short- and long-term health benefits for mothers with GDM. Mothers with GDM who breastfeed have improved lipid and glucose metabolic profiles for the first 3 months after birth.

Breast milk leptin and adiponectin in relation to infant body composition up to 2 years.

Background: Adipokines in breast milk have been associated with infant growth trajectories.

Objective: We aimed to explore the relationship of leptin and adiponectin in breast milk with infant weight gain and body composition up to the age of 2 years.

Methods: Breast milk samples were collected from exclusively or partially breastfeeding mothers at 6 weeks (n = 152) and 4 months (n = 120) post-partum.

Postpartum outcomes in women with gestational diabetes and their offspring: POGO study design and first-year results.

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a risk factor for mothers to develop type 2 diabetes (T2D) postpartum, and for their children to develop obesity. The aim of the ongoing POGO study is to identify long-lasting changes in the maternal and fetal metabolism and microbiome, after GDM, which contribute to subsequent development of T2D and obesity.

Methods: Women screened for GDM are asked to attend a postpartum study visit together with their offspring.

Maternal insulin resistance, triglycerides and cord blood insulin in relation to post-natal weight trajectories and body composition in the offspring up to 2 years.

Aims: The intrauterine metabolic environment might have a programming effect on offspring body composition. We aimed to explore associations of maternal variables of glucose and lipid metabolism during pregnancy, as well as cord blood insulin, with infant growth and body composition up to 2 years post-partum.

Methods: Data of pregnant women and their infants came from a randomized controlled trial designed to investigate the impact of nutritional fatty acids on adipose tissue development in the offspring.

Breast milk fatty acid profile in relation to infant growth and body composition: results from the INFAT study.

Background: There is some evidence that the n-6/n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) ratio in early nutrition, and thus in breast milk, could influence infant body composition.

Methods: In an open-label randomized controlled trial (RCT), 208 healthy pregnant women were allocated to a dietary intervention (supplementation with 1,200 mg n-3 LCPUFAs per day and instructions to reduce arachidonic acid (AA) intake) from the 15th wk of gestation until 4 mo of lactation or to follow their habitual diet. Breast milk LCPUFAs at 6 wk and 4 mo postpartum were related to infant body composition assessed by skinfold thickness (SFT) measurements and ultrasonography during the first year of life.

Effect of reducing the n-6/n-3 fatty acid ratio on the maternal and fetal leptin axis in relation to infant body composition.

Objective: To investigate the effect of reducing the n-6/n-3 fatty acid ratio in maternal nutrition on the maternal and cord blood leptin axis and their association with infant body composition up to 2 years.

Design And Methods: 208 healthy pregnant women were randomized to either a dietary intervention to reduce the n-6/n-3 fatty acid ratio from 15th week of gestation until 4 months postpartum or a control group. Leptin, soluble leptin receptor and free leptin index were determined in maternal and cord plasma and related to infant body composition assessed by skinfold thicknesses up to 2 years.

Effect of dietary intervention to reduce the n-6/n-3 fatty acid ratio on maternal and fetal fatty acid profile and its relation to offspring growth and body composition at 1 year of age.

Background/objective: Evidence is accumulating that the long-chain PUFA (LCPUFA) are associated with offspring growth and body composition. We investigated the relationship between LCPUFAs in red blood cells (RBCs) of pregnant women/breastfeeding mothers and umbilical cord RBCs of their neonates with infant growth and body composition ≤ 1 year of age.

Subjects/methods: In an open-label randomized, controlled trial, 208 healthy pregnant women received a dietary intervention (daily supplementation with 1200 mg n-3 LCPUFAs and dietary counseling to reduce arachidonic acid (AA) intake) from the 15th week of gestation until 4 months of lactation or followed their habitual diet.