Framework for assessing and easing global COVID-19 travel restrictions.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries implemented international travel restrictions that aimed to contain viral spread while still allowing necessary cross-border travel for social and economic reasons. The relative effectiveness of these approaches for controlling the pandemic has gone largely unstudied. Here we developed a flexible network meta-population model to compare the effectiveness of international travel policies, with a focus on evaluating the benefit of policy coordination.

Policies for Easing COVID-19 Pandemic Travel Restrictions.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries implemented international travel restrictions that aimed to contain viral spread while still allowing necessary cross-border travel for social and economic reasons. The relative effectiveness of these approaches for controlling the pandemic has gone largely unstudied. Here we developed a flexible network meta-population model to compare the effectiveness of international travel policies, with a focus on evaluating the benefit of policy coordination.

Metabolomic and genetic associations with insulin resistance in pregnancy.

Aims/hypothesis: Our study aimed to integrate maternal metabolic and genetic data related to insulin sensitivity during pregnancy to provide novel insights into mechanisms underlying pregnancy-induced insulin resistance.

Methods: Fasting and 1 h serum samples were collected from women in the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome study who underwent an OGTT at ∼28 weeks' gestation. We obtained targeted and non-targeted metabolomics and genome-wide association data from 1600 and 4528 mothers, respectively, in four ancestry groups (Northern European, Afro-Caribbean, Mexican American and Thai); 1412 of the women had both metabolomics and genome-wide association data.

Cord Blood Metabolomics: Association With Newborn Anthropometrics and C-Peptide Across Ancestries.

Context: Newborn adiposity is associated with childhood obesity. Cord blood metabolomics is one approach that can be used to understand early-life contributors to adiposity and insulin resistance.

Objective: To determine the association of cord blood metabolites with newborn adiposity and hyperinsulinemia in a multiethnic cohort of newborns.

Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome Follow-up Study (HAPO FUS): Maternal Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Childhood Glucose Metabolism.

Objective: Whether hyperglycemia in utero less than overt diabetes is associated with altered childhood glucose metabolism is unknown. We examined associations of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) not confounded by treatment with childhood glycemia in the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) cohort.

Research Design And Methods: HAPO Follow-up Study (FUS) included 4,160 children ages 10-14 years who completed all or part of an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and whose mothers had a 75-g OGTT at ∼28 weeks of gestation with blinded glucose values.

Maternal glucose levels during pregnancy and childhood adiposity in the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome Follow-up Study.

Aims/hypothesis: Maternal type 2 diabetes during pregnancy and gestational diabetes are associated with childhood adiposity; however, associations of lower maternal glucose levels during pregnancy with childhood adiposity, independent of maternal BMI, remain less clear. The objective was to examine associations of maternal glucose levels during pregnancy with childhood adiposity in the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) cohort.

Methods: The HAPO Study was an observational epidemiological international multi-ethnic investigation that established strong associations of glucose levels during pregnancy with multiple adverse perinatal outcomes.

Short Communication: Viral Genetic Linkage Analysis Among Black Men Who Have Sex With Men (HIV Prevention Trials Network 061).

Analysis of viral genetic linkage can reveal generalized transmission patterns within a population. The HIV Prevention Trials Network 061 study evaluated HIV incidence among black men who have sex with men. HIV genotypes from 169 men who were HIV infected at enrollment and 23 men who seroconverted during the study were analyzed for genetic linkage.

Maternal metabolites during pregnancy are associated with newborn outcomes and hyperinsulinaemia across ancestries.

Aims/hypothesis: We aimed to determine the association of maternal metabolites with newborn adiposity and hyperinsulinaemia in a multi-ethnic cohort of mother-newborn dyads.

Methods: Targeted and non-targeted metabolomics assays were performed on fasting and 1 h serum samples from a total of 1600 mothers in four ancestry groups (Northern European, Afro-Caribbean, Mexican American and Thai) who participated in the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) study, underwent an OGTT at ~28 weeks gestation and whose newborns had anthropometric measurements at birth.

Results: In this observational study, meta-analyses demonstrated significant associations of maternal fasting and 1 h metabolites with birthweight, cord C-peptide and/or sum of skinfolds across ancestry groups.

Fat mass estimation in neonates: anthropometric models compared with air displacement plethysmography.

Newborn adiposity, a nutritional measure of the maternal-fetal intra-uterine environment, is representative of future metabolic health. An anthropometric model using weight, length and flank skinfold to estimate neonatal fat mass has been used in numerous epidemiological studies. Air displacement plethysmography (ADP), a non-invasive technology to measure body composition, is impractical for large epidemiological studies.

Genetic Determinants of Glycemic Traits and the Risk of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.

Many common genetic polymorphisms are associated with glycemic traits and type 2 diabetes (T2D), but knowledge about genetic determinants of glycemic traits in pregnancy is limited. We tested genetic variants known to be associated with glycemic traits and T2D in the general population for associations with glycemic traits in pregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Participants in two cohorts (Genetics of Glucose regulation in Gestation and Growth [Gen3G] and Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome [HAPO]) underwent oral glucose tolerance testing at 24-32 weeks' gestation.

Cord Blood Metabolites Associated with Newborn Adiposity and Hyperinsulinemia.

Objective: To evaluate the association between cord blood amino acid and acylcarnitine profiles and measures of adiposity and hyperinsulinemia in healthy newborns.

Study Design: A cross-sectional study of 118 full-term infants born to mothers without gestational diabetes was performed. Cord blood leptin, C-peptide, acylcarnitine, and amino acid levels were measured.

Association of Gestational Diabetes With Maternal Disorders of Glucose Metabolism and Childhood Adiposity.

Importance: The sequelae of gestational diabetes (GD) by contemporary criteria that diagnose approximately twice as many women as previously used criteria are unclear.

Objective: To examine associations of GD with maternal glucose metabolism and childhood adiposity 10 to 14 years' postpartum.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) Study established associations of glucose levels during pregnancy with perinatal outcomes and the follow-up study evaluated the long-term outcomes (4697 mothers and 4832 children; study visits occurred between February 13, 2013, and December 13, 2016).

Fetal Genotype and Maternal Glucose Have Independent and Additive Effects on Birth Weight.

Maternal glycemia is a key determinant of birth weight, but recent large-scale genome-wide association studies demonstrated an important contribution of fetal genetics. It is not known whether fetal genotype modifies the impact of maternal glycemia or whether it acts through insulin-mediated growth. We tested the effects of maternal fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and a fetal genetic score for birth weight on birth weight and fetal insulin in 2,051 European mother-child pairs from the Exeter Family Study of Childhood Health (EFSOCH) and the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) study.

Sickle cell disease in western Sudan: genetic epidemiology and predictors of knowledge attitude and practices.

Objective: To investigate the epidemiology of sickle cell disease (SCD) and determinants of knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) towards SCD in western Kordofan State, Sudan.

Methods: A community-based, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in three towns. Three hundred and seventy-two households were polled, and blood samples for haemoglobin phenotyping were collected from 1116 individuals.