Prenatal choline supplementation improves child sustained attention: A 7-year follow-up of a randomized controlled feeding trial.

Numerous rodent studies demonstrate developmental programming of offspring cognition by maternal choline intake, with prenatal choline deprivation causing lasting adverse effects and supplemental choline producing lasting benefits. Few human studies have evaluated the effect of maternal choline supplementation on offspring cognition, with none following children to school age. Here, we report results from a controlled feeding study in which pregnant women were randomized to consume 480 mg choline/d (approximately the Adequate Intake [AI]) or 930 mg choline/d during the 3rd trimester.

Early life blood lead levels and asthma diagnosis at age 4-6 years.

The USA has a high burden of childhood asthma. Previous studies have observed associations between higher blood lead levels and greater hypersensitivity in children. The objective of the present study was to estimate the association between blood lead concentrations during early childhood and an asthma diagnosis between 48 and 72 months of age amongst a cohort with well-characterized blood lead concentrations.

Low linoleic acid foods with added DHA given to Malawian children with severe acute malnutrition improve cognition: a randomized, triple-blinded, controlled clinical trial.

Background: There is concern that the PUFA composition of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is suboptimal for neurocognitive recovery.

Objectives: We tested the hypothesis that RUTF made with reduced amounts of linoleic acid, achieved using high-oleic (HO) peanuts without added DHA (HO-RUTF) or with added DHA (DHA-HO-RUTF), improves cognition when compared with standard RUTF (S-RUTF).

Methods: A triple-blind, randomized, controlled clinical feeding trial was conducted among children with uncomplicated SAM in Malawi with 3 types of RUTF: DHA-HO-RUTF, HO-RUTF, and S-RUTF.

Pre- and postnatal polychlorinated biphenyl exposure and cognitive and behavioral development at age 45 Months in a cohort of Slovak children.

Evidence of associations of pre- and postnatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) with cognitive development beyond early childhood is inconsistent. A previous report from this cohort observed adverse associations between early life PCB exposures and infant Bayley scores at age 16 months. The present study examines pre- and postnatal PCB exposures in relation to both behavior and cognitive development at age 45 months.

Airborne particulate lead and children's mental functioning.

Lead is a highly toxic metal that is pervasive in the environment in industrialised countries. There is universal agreement that at some level of exposure, lead damages the haematopoietic, renal, and neurological systems. However there is less agreement about how much lead can be tolerated without harm.

Latent subgroups of cognitive performance in lead- and manganese-exposed Uruguayan children: Examining behavioral signatures.

Objectives: Lead (Pb) and manganese (Mn) are confirmed neurotoxins but it is unclear to what extent low-level exposure produces a unique behavioral signature. The objective of this study was to investigate latent cognitive profiles among children (6-8 years) from Montevideo, Uruguay co-exposed to these metals.

Method: Among 345 children, blood Pb and hair Mn were measured using atomic absorption spectroscopy and ICP-MS, respectively.

Maternal choline supplementation during the third trimester of pregnancy improves infant information processing speed: a randomized, double-blind, controlled feeding study.

Rodent studies demonstrate that supplementing the maternal diet with choline during pregnancy produces life-long cognitive benefits for the offspring. In contrast, the two experimental studies examining cognitive effects of maternal choline supplementation in humans produced inconsistent results, perhaps because of poor participant adherence and/or uncontrolled variation in intake of choline or other nutrients. We examined the effects of maternal choline supplementation during pregnancy on infant cognition, with intake of choline and other nutrients tightly controlled.

Effect of iron and zinc-biofortified pearl millet consumption on growth and immune competence in children aged 12-18 months in India: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Biofortified crops represent a sustainable agricultural solution for the widespread micronutrient malnutrition in India and other resource-limited settings. This study aims to investigate the effect of the consumption of foods prepared with iron- and zinc-biofortified pearl millet (FeZn-PM) by children on biomarkers of iron and zinc status, growth, and immune function.

Methods And Analysis: We will conduct a randomised controlled feeding trial in identified slums of Mumbai, India among 200 children aged between 12 and 18 months.

Early developmental outcomes of children with congenital HHV-6 infection.

Objective: The goal of this study was to determine if congenital human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) infection influences early neurodevelopment.

Methods: We enrolled 57 newborns with HHV-6 congenital infection and 242 control newborns without congenital infection into a prospective, double-blind study with 4 visits between 4 and 30 months of age. Assessments included the Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence, the Visual Expectation Paradigm, and the Mental Development Index (MDI) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II.

Prenatal exposure to organophosphates, paraoxonase 1, and cognitive development in childhood.

Background: Prenatal exposure to organophosphate pesticides has been shown to negatively affect child neurobehavioral development. Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) is a key enzyme in the metabolism of organophosphates.

Objective: We examined the relationship between biomarkers of organophosphate exposure, PON1, and cognitive development at ages 12 and 24 months and 6-9 years.

Prenatal phthalate exposure is associated with childhood behavior and executive functioning.

Background: Experimental and observational studies have reported biological consequences of phthalate exposure relevant to neurodevelopment.

Objective: Our goal was to examine the association of prenatal phthalate exposure with behavior and executive functioning at 4-9 years of age.

Methods: The Mount Sinai Children's Environmental Health Study enrolled a multiethnic prenatal population in New York City between 1998 and 2002 (n = 404).

Associations of maternal long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, methyl mercury, and infant development in the Seychelles Child Development Nutrition Study.

Fish consumption during gestation can provide the fetus with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) and other nutrients essential for growth and development of the brain. However, fish consumption also exposes the fetus to the neurotoxicant, methyl mercury (MeHg). We studied the association between these fetal exposures and early child development in the Seychelles Child Development Nutrition Study (SCDNS).

Neurodevelopmental effects of maternal nutritional status and exposure to methylmercury from eating fish during pregnancy.

Fish contain nutrients that promote optimal brain growth and development but also contain methylmercury (MeHg) that can have toxic effects. The present study tested the hypothesis that the intake of selected nutrients in fish or measures of maternal nutritional status may represent important confounders when estimating the effects of prenatal methylmercury exposure on child development. The study took place in the Republic of Seychelles, an Indian Ocean archipelago where fish consumption is high.

The conundrum of unmeasured confounding: Comment on: "Can some of the detrimental neurodevelopmental effects attributed to lead be due to pesticides? by Brian Gulson".

The problem described by Dr. Brian Gulson - confounding by unmeasured exposures to pesticides - is only the most recent in a series of potential confounders cited to explain the observed effect of lead on children's intellectual abilities or behavioral problems. Despite the persistent problem of unmeasured confounders, there are several lines of evidence implicating lead as a toxicant at blood lead levels <10 microg/dL.

Blood lead concentrations < 10 microg/dL and child intelligence at 6 years of age.

Background: Few studies provide data directly relevant to the question of whether blood lead concentrations < 10 microg/dL adversely affect children's cognitive function.

Objective: We examined the association between blood lead concentrations assessed throughout early childhood and children's IQ at 6 years of age.

Methods: Children were followed from 6 months to 6 years of age, with determination of blood lead concentrations at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months, and 3, 4, 5, and 6 years of age.

The effect of maternal PTSD following in utero trauma exposure on behavior and temperament in the 9-month-old infant.

Unlabelled: In view of evidence of in utero glucocorticoid programming, and our prior observation of lower cortisol levels in 9-month-old infants of mothers with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to mothers without PTSD, we undertook an examination of the effect of in utero maternal stress, as determined by PTSD symptom severity, and maternal cortisol levels on behavioral outcomes in the infant.

Methods: Ninety-eight pregnant women directly exposed to the World Trade Center (WTC) collapse on 9/11 provided salivary cortisol samples and completed a PTSD symptom questionnaire and a behavior rating scale to measure infant temperament, including distress to limitations, and response to novelty.

Results: Mothers who developed PTSD in response to 9/11 had lower morning and evening salivary cortisol levels, compared to mothers who did not develop PTSD.

Principles and practices of neurodevelopmental assessment in children: lessons learned from the Centers for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research.

Principles and practices of pediatric neurotoxicology are reviewed here with the purpose of guiding the design and execution of the planned National Children's Study. The developing human central nervous system is the target organ most vulnerable to environmental chemicals. An investigation of the effects of environmental exposures on child development is a complex endeavor that requires consideration of numerous critical factors pertinent to a study's concept, design, and execution.

Deficits in cognitive function and achievement in Mexican first-graders with low blood lead concentrations.

Elevated blood lead levels in children are associated with lower scores on tests of cognitive functioning. Recent studies have reported inverse relations between lifetime exposure and intellectual functioning at blood lead concentrations below 10 microg/dL, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) level of concern. We report associations between blood lead and cognitive performance for first-grade Mexican children living near a metal foundry.

Low-level environmental lead exposure and children's intellectual function: an international pooled analysis.

Lead is a confirmed neurotoxin, but questions remain about lead-associated intellectual deficits at blood lead levels < 10 microg/dL and whether lower exposures are, for a given change in exposure, associated with greater deficits. The objective of this study was to examine the association of intelligence test scores and blood lead concentration, especially for children who had maximal measured blood lead levels < 10 microg/dL. We examined data collected from 1,333 children who participated in seven international population-based longitudinal cohort studies, followed from birth or infancy until 5-10 years of age.

Impaired neuropsychological functioning in lead-exposed children.

Neuropsychological functions were assessed in 174 children participating in a longitudinal study of low-level lead exposure. At age 5 1/2 years, children were administered the Working Memory and Planning Battery of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Testing Automated Battery. Measures of sociodemographic characteristics of the family, prenatal and perinatal risk, quality of caregiving and crowding in the home, and maternal and child intelligence were used as covariates to test the hypothesis that children with higher lifetime average blood lead concentrations would perform more poorly on tests of working memory, attentional flexibility, and planning and problem solving.

Low-level lead exposure, executive functioning, and learning in early childhood.

The current paper presents evidence relating low-level lead exposure to impaired executive functioning in young children. Using the Shape School task, we assessed focused attention, attention switching, working memory, and the ability to inhibit automatic responses in a cohort of 170 children. Participants performed the Shape School task at both 48 and 54 months of age; the mean blood lead level was 6.

Intellectual impairment in children with blood lead concentrations below 10 microg per deciliter.

Background: Despite dramatic declines in children's blood lead concentrations and a lowering of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's level of concern to 10 microg per deciliter (0.483 micromol per liter), little is known about children's neurobehavioral functioning at lead concentrations below this level.

Methods: We measured blood lead concentrations in 172 children at 6, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months of age and administered the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale at the ages of 3 and 5 years.