Background: Urban settlements have become the main living environment. Understanding the impact of urban exposures on human health has therefore become a growing area of research. Up-to-date knowledge about the influence of urban exposures on pregnant women's and children's health is especially relevant, as they are particularly vulnerable to certain external influences.
Aim: This review aims to provide a synthesis of systematic reviews with meta-analyses reporting on an association between the urban environmental risk factors and health outcomes in pregnancy, infants, children and adolescents.
Methods: We conducted an umbrella review, methodically analysing systematic reviews with meta-analyses, published between January 2016 and December 2022 in PubMed or Scopus. Adhering to the PRISMA checklist, we searched for free text using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms related to air pollution, noise pollution, temperature, green space exposure, built and food environment, health outcomes, children (aged 0-18 years), pregnancy and systematic reviews with meta-analyses. We extracted key characteristics of each included study and assessed the quality of the included studies via the R-AMSTAR 2 tool.
Results: Twenty-four studies met our inclusion criteria and identified 104 associations including 15 exposures and 60 health outcomes. The most frequently studied associations were related to air pollutants, followed by the built and food environment and noise. Birth outcomes (including low birth weight, pre-term birth or stillbirth) were the most commonly affected health outcomes, followed by respiratory outcomes such as asthma or respiratory infections. A total of 45 exposure-response function were reported to be statistically significant, including 10 exposures and 23 health effects.
Conclusion: This umbrella review provides an overview of the evidence and availability of exposure response functions between selected urban exposures and child health outcomes. This helps to identify research gaps and to build the basis for health impact assessment.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2024.120084 | DOI Listing |
Front Biosci (Landmark Ed)
January 2025
Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education "Siberian State Medical University" of the Ministry of Health of Russia, 634050 Tomsk, Russia.
Background: Over the past five years, the pregnancy rate in assisted reproductive technology (ART) programs in Russia has remained relatively stable. The aim of this study was to assess the distribution of monocyte and macrophage subsets in the blood and follicular fluid of infertile women undergoing assisted reproductive technology.
Methods: The study involved 45 women with a mean age of 35 ± 4.
Front Biosci (Landmark Ed)
January 2025
Division of Molecular Psychiatry, Center of Mental Health, University of Hospital Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany.
Background: The inheritance of the short allele, encoding the serotonin transporter (SERT) in humans, increases susceptibility to neuropsychiatric and metabolic disorders, with aging and female sex further exacerbating these conditions. Both central and peripheral mechanisms of the compromised serotonin (5-HT) system play crucial roles in this context. Previous studies on SERT-deficient (Sert) mice, which model human SERT deficiency, have demonstrated emotional and metabolic disturbances, exacerbated by exposure to a high-fat Western diet (WD).
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January 2025
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, 41500 Larissa, Greece.
Background: Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1α) and its related vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) may play a significant role in atherosclerosis and their targeting is a strategic approach that may affect multiple pathways influencing disease progression. This study aimed to perform a systematic review to reveal current evidence on the role of HIF-1α and VEGF immunophenotypes with other prognostic markers as potential biomarkers of atherosclerosis prognosis and treatment efficacy.
Methods: We performed a systematic review of the current literature to explore the role of HIF-1α and VEGF protein expression along with the relation to the prognosis and therapeutic strategies of atherosclerosis.
Eur Stroke J
January 2025
Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Background: We aimed to assess impairments on health-related quality of life, and mental health resulting from Retinal artery occlusion (RAO) with monocular visual field loss and posterior circulation ischemic stroke (PCIS) with full or partial hemianopia using patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).
Methods: In a prospective study, consecutive patients with acute RAO on fundoscopy and PCIS on imaging were recruited during their surveillance on a stroke unit over a period of 15 months. Baseline characteristics were determined from medical records and interviews.
Br J Hosp Med (Lond)
January 2025
Nursing Department, Zhang Ye People's Hospital Affiliated to Hexi University, Zhangye, Gansu, China.
Diabetes is a chronic lifelong condition that requires consistent self-care and daily lifestyle adjustments. Effective disease management involves regular blood glucose monitoring and ongoing nursing support. Inadequate education and poor self-management are key factors contributing to increased mortality among diabetic individuals.
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