Plasticity in developmental programming has evolved in order to provide the best chances of survival and reproductive success to the organism under changing environments. Environmental conditions that are experienced in early life can profoundly influence human biology and long-term health. Developmental origins of health and disease and life-history transitions are purported to use placental, nutritional, and endocrine cues for setting long-term biological, mental, and behavioral strategies in response to local ecological and/or social conditions. The window of developmental plasticity extends from preconception to early childhood and involves epigenetic responses to environmental changes, which exert their effects during life-history phase transitions. These epigenetic responses influence development, cell- and tissue-specific gene expression, and sexual dimorphism, and, in exceptional cases, could be transmitted transgenerationally. Translational epigenetic research in child health is a reiterative process that ranges from research in the basic sciences, preclinical research, and pediatric clinical research. Identifying the epigenetic consequences of fetal programming creates potential applications in clinical practice: the development of epigenetic biomarkers for early diagnosis of disease, the ability to identify susceptible individuals at risk for adult diseases, and the development of novel preventive and curative measures that are based on diet and/or novel epigenetic drugs.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/er.2009-0039 | DOI Listing |
Radiat Oncol
January 2025
Department of Radiotherapy and Radiooncology, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University, Moorenstr. 5, 40225, Dusseldorf, Germany.
Background: Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor, typically treated with normofractionated craniospinal irradiation (CSI) with an additional boost over about 6 weeks in children older than 3 years. This study investigates the sensitivity of pediatric medulloblastoma cell lines to different radiation fractionation schedules. While extensively studied in adult tumors, these ratios remain unknown in pediatric cases due to the rarity of the disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Nurs
January 2025
Department of Orthopedic, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health and Disorders, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Objective: This study aims to analyze the medical-seeking behavior of Osteogenesis Imperfecta(OI) children in Southwest China, summarize and analyze the issues in their medical process, and propose corresponding improvement strategies.
Methods: A phenomenological study involving semi-structured interviews with 20 OI caregivers at a tertiary centre for children from March to August 2021 was analyzed thematically, following Anderson's model.
Results: We identified eight themes in the data: 1)Regional disparities of OI management, 2)Big economic burden, 3)High-risk population, 4)Lack of health education, 5)Multiple treatments,6)Strict treatment indications,7)Disappointing therapeutic outcomes,8)Effective or ineffective treatment results.
Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health
January 2025
Black Dog Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Background: Primary school students struggling with mental health are less likely than high school students to access mental health care, due to barriers such as mental health stigma and low mental health literacy among children and parents. The near universal reach of schools offers a potential avenue to increase access to mental health care through early identification. The potential risks of this approach also need to be understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Exp Clin Cancer Res
January 2025
Department of General Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China.
Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) has high incidence and mortality rates, with severe prognoses during invasion and metastasis stages. Despite advancements in diagnostic and therapeutic technologies, the impact of the tumour microenvironment, particularly extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness, on CRC progression and metastasis is not fully understood.
Methods: This study included 107 CRC patients.
BMC Psychol
January 2025
Department of Research and Development, War Child Alliance, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Background: There is a paucity of brief self-report parenting measures validated for use in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We developed the Brief Parenting Questionnaire (BPQ), a 24-item self-report measure for use with parents of children ages 3-12.
Objective: We describe the development and evaluation of the psychometric properties of the BPQ, which was designed to include two subscales: warm and responsive parenting (WRP) and harsh parenting (HP).
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