A prospective study on the persistence of infant crying,sleeping and feeding problems and preschool behaviour

Aim: To determine the persistence of regulatory problems (RP), i.e. excessive crying (>3 months of age), feeding and sleeping difficulties from infancy to preschool age, and to evaluate whether RP at 5 months are predictive of preschool adaptive behaviour and social skills. Method: A prospective population study of newborns admitted to neonatal care. RP at 5, 20 and 56 months of age were obtained via parent interviews and neurological examination and preschool adaptive behaviour and social skills by parent ratings. Logistic and linear regression analyses were conducted and controlled for psychosocial and neurological factors. Results: More than half of the sample had RP at least at one measurement point. In about 8% of infants, RP persisted across the preschool years. Multiple RP and feeding problems increased the odds of eating problems at 20 and 56 months. Persistent RP and feeding problems were predictive of deficits in preschool adaptive behaviour and social skills. In addition, sex differences were found. Conclusions: Multiple RP and feeding problems had the highest stability. Persistent RP were predictive of adverse social and adaptive behaviour. Understanding of the aetiology may help to prevent persistent RP     

Association between life stress during pregnancy and infant crying in the first six months postpartum: a prospective longitudinal study

OBJECTIVE: To examine prospectively the relationship between prenatal life stress and infant crying/fussing during the first 6 months of postnatal life, taking into account an array of confounders suggested in the literature. DESIGN: Prospective longitudinal study of a convenient sample, with data points in pregnancy and at about 6 weeks, 3, and 6 months postpartum. METHODS: The study included 86 pregnant women who completed a standardized, validated and widely used questionnaire on negative life changes experienced in the preceding 12 months. Women were grouped by median split on the impact score of negative life changes. Demographic, obstetric and lifestyle variables were obtained from pre- and postnatal interviews and from medical records in order to be taken into account as possible confounders. At all three postnatal data points, mothers kept a validated 5-day 24-h behavior diary to assess durations of infant crying/fussing. RESULTS: Infants of mothers with high scores of negative life changes exhibited more crying/fussing than infants born to mothers with low negative change scores, throughout the first half year postpartum, but particularly at ages 3 and 6 months. These results do not seem to be spurious due to the confounders considered in this report or to recording bias. CONCLUSION: Prenatal life stress is associated with infant crying/fussing in the first half year after delivery. To prevent or reduce infant crying and to foster a well-adapted parent-infant relationship, professionals attending expectant mothers should consider their emotional condition. If required, support should be provided already in pregnancy.     

Homocysteine,vitamin B<Subscript>12</Subscript> and folate status in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Objective  The cause of majority of acute leukemias is unknown, but likely to involve interaction of environment, hematopoitic development and weak susceptibility loci within an individual’s genetic constitution. The present study evaluates the association between plasma levels of homocysteine, folate and vitamin B₁₂ and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Methods  Plasma levels of homocysteine, folate and vitamin B₁₂ were compared between cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and age and sex matched normal controls. Homocysteine levels were measured by solid immunoassay, while folate and vitamin B₁₂ levels were determined by radioassay. Results  Folate levels were significantly among cases as compared to control group (8.56 ± 4.35) vs (14.04 ± 2.62) ng/ml, P<0.001). Although individually vitamin B₁₂ and homocysteine were not significant different between cases and controls, the combined effect of all three parameters was significantly different (P<0.001), with 83.3% of correct classification of cases and controls was obtained by discriminate function analysis. Conclusion  The data provide evidence for the role of folate, vitamin B₁₂ and homocysteine levels in acute lymphoblastic leukemia, suggesting that gene-environment interaction may be an important factor in the development of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.     

Homocysteine,folate, vitamin B12 and B6 in mothers of children with neural tube defects in Xinjiang,China

Aim: To investigate the maternal homocysteine (Hcy), folate, vitamin B₁₂ and B₆, and their relations to neural tube defects (NTDs). Methods: Thirty mothers of NTDs offspring and another 60 mothers of normal children were enrolled as the patient and control groups from Xinjiang, China, from January 2008 to May 2011. The plasma levels of Hcy, folate, vitamin B₁₂ and B₆ were measured and compared between the two groups. Results: The morbidity of NTDs was 2.44% in Xinjiang. The Hcy was significantly higher in patient group than in control group (15.1 ± 7.8 vs. 8.5 ± 4.0 μmol/L, p < 0.001). The folate in patient group (9.7 ± 8.1 μg/L) was lower than in control group (15.0 ± 8.1 μg/L, p < 0.001). The vitamin B₁₂ was 181.3 ± 107.7 and 394.3 ± 386.3 ng/L in patient and control groups, respectively, with a significant difference (p < 0.001). The abnormal frequency of Hcy and vitamin B₁₂ was statistically different in two groups. The difference of vitamin B₆ between the patients and controls was marginal (48.7 ± 16.5 vs. 42.0 ± 10.5 mg/L, p = 0.051). Moreover, folate and vitamin B₁₂ levels were negatively correlated with Hcy while vitamin B₆ was positively correlated with Hcy. Positive correlation was observed between folate and vitamin B₁₂ levels. Conclusion: Our data confirm that higher Hcy, lower folate and vitamin B₁₂ are risk factors for NTDs. Besides folate, vitamin B₁₂ should be supplied to decrease NTDs occurrence. Further study is required to investigate the levels and accurate role of vitamin B₆.     

Maternal mental disorders in pregnancy and the puerperium and risks to infant health

Prenatal and postnatal period presents the highest prevalence of mental disorders in women’s lives and depression is the most frequent one, affecting approximately one in every five mothers. The aggravating factor here is that during this period psychiatric symptoms affect not only women’s health and well-being but may also interfere in the infant’s intra and extra-uterine development. Although the causes of the relationship between maternal mental disorders and possible risks to a child’s health and development remain unknown, it is suspected that these risks may be related to the use of psychotropic drugs during pregnancy, to substance abuse and the mother’s lifestyle. Moreover, after delivery, maternal mental disorders may also impair the ties of affection (bonding) with the newborn and the maternal capacity of caring in the post-partum period thus increasing the risk for infant infection and malnutrition, impaired child growth that is expressed in low weight and height for age, and even behavioral problems and vulnerability to presenting mental disorders in adulthood. Generally speaking, research on this theme can be divided into the type of mental disorder analyzed: studies that research minor mental disorders during pregnancy such as depression and anxiety find an association between these maternal disorders and obstetric complications such as prematurity and low birth weight, whereas studies that evaluate severe maternal mental disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have found not only an association with general obstetric complications as well as with congenital malformations and perinatal mortality. Therefore, the success of infant growth care programs also depends on the mother’s mental well being. Such findings have led to the need for new public policies in the field of maternal-infant care geared toward the population of mothers. However, more research is necessary so as to confirm the association between all factors with greater scientific rigor.     

Vitamin D intake during pregnancy: Association with maternal characteristics and infant birth weight

Background

Vitamin D insufficiency is beginning to be recognized as a public health problem. It is plausible that some portion of the lower Vitamin D levels which characterize minority populations is related to diet.

Aims

We examined and described total Vitamin D intake during pregnancy from the mean of three 24-hour recalls plus use of dietary supplements.

Study design

Prospective cohort.

Subjects

2251 low income, minority gravidae from Camden, New Jersey, USA.

Outcome measures

Differences in total Vitamin D intake by maternal ethnicity. BMI and other factors (age, parity) and associations of total Vitamin D intake with gestation duration and birth weight adjusted for gestation.

Results and conclusions

Total Vitamin D intake was significantly lower for minority gravidae (African American, and Hispanic, mainly Puerto Rican), for parous women, and for women with pregravid BMIs consistent with obesity or being overweight. After control for energy, other nutrients, and other potential confounding variables, total intake of Vitamin D was associated with increased infant birth weight; gravidae below the current adequate intake (< 5 μg/day or 200 IU) had infants with significantly lower birth weights (p < 0.05). Additional intake of Vitamin D may be of importance since higher intake is associated with increased birth weight in a population at risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes.     

Maternal trait anxiety, depression and life event stress in pregnancy: relationships with infant temperament

AIMS: To assess whether links exist between maternal trait anxiety (STAI), perceived life event (LE) stress and depression (Edinburgh scale) and infant temperament. STUDY DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: Women in the third trimester of pregnancy returned psychological self-report questionnaires; infant temperament was evaluated at 4 and 6 months by maternal and paternal report, while depression (concurrent Edinburgh scale) was also assessed at four and six months. As data were returned inconsistently at 4 and 6 months, we combined these two time points for simplicity of reporting and optimisation of numbers. RESULTS: Univariate logistic regressions on 970 subjects indicated that the pregnancy STAI (>40) scores were associated with 2.56- and 1.57-fold increases (maternal and paternal, respectively), in the odds of "difficult" infant temperament at 4 or 6 months. Concurrent Edinburgh scores (OR of 3.06 and 2.64 for maternal reports, respectively) were also predictive of infant temperament. Age, education, income, marital status, obstetric complications, infant gender and prematurity were not predictive of infant temperament. In stepwise multiple logistic regression analyses, the antenatal trait STAI (odds ratio 1.96) significantly predicted maternal reports of "difficult" temperament at 4 or 6 months independent of both antenatal and postnatal depression scores. There were similar trends for paternal reports of "difficult" temperament but these were not significant. Antenatal depression and perceived LE stress were not predictive of temperament. Finally, women (N=14) reporting domestic violence (DV) in pregnancy had highly significant increased Edinburgh and STAI scores. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal trait anxiety was predictive of "difficult" infant temperament, independent of "concurrent" depression and key sociodemographic and obstetric risk factors. These findings, while needing replication using objective measures of infant temperament, suggest that antenatal psychological interventions aimed at minimising anxiety may optimize infant temperament outcomes. There may be some benefit in shaping specific interventions to women reporting specific risk factors such as DV or past abuse.     

母亲孕期补充叶酸与其子女孤独症谱系障碍发病风险的Meta分析

目的定量综合分析母亲孕期补充叶酸与其子女孤独症谱系障碍(ASD)发病风险的相关性。方法计算机全面检索PubMed、Embase、Scopus、Corchrane Liabrary、EBSCO、中国知网、万方、维普及中国生物医学文献数据库等电子数据库,收集有关母亲孕期叶酸补充与儿童ASD发病风险的文献,以OR及其95%CI为合并效应量,运用Stata 12.0软件进行Meta分析,并进行发表偏倚评估和敏感性分析。结果根据纳入及排除标准共纳入10篇文献,包含15项研究,累计病例4 459例,对照1 225 835例。Meta分析结果显示,总体人群中母亲孕期补充叶酸可显著降低其子女ASD发病风险(OR=0.798,95%CI:0.669~0.952,P=0.012)。亚组分析结果显示,亚洲人群中母亲孕期补充叶酸可能与其子女ASD发病风险降低有关(OR=0.664,95%CI:0.428~1.032),但未达到统计学意义(P=0.069);西方人群中母亲孕期补充叶酸可降低其子女ASD发病风险(OR=0.817,95%CI:0.671~0.996,P=0.045)。结论母亲孕期补充叶酸可能可降低其子女ASD发病风险,在西方人群中效果较明显。     

Vitamin B12 deficiency with intrinsic factor antibodies in an infant with poor growth and developmental delay

Vitamin B₁₂ deficiency is very rare in infants and may lead to serious hematological and neurodevelopmental abnormalities. The present article describes a case involving a seven-month-old boy with severe vitamin B₁₂ deficiency, likely caused by juvenile pernicious anemia, an entity rarely described. The child presented with feeding intolerance, poor growth and developmental delay. He was noted to have macrocytic anemia, a markedly low serum vitamin B₁₂ level, and elevated homocysteine and methylmalonic acid levels. Antibodies to intrinsic factor were positive. The mother was healthy, with normal vitamin B₁₂ status. Therapy with vitamin B₁₂ supplements led to excellent recovery of symptoms. Vitamin B₁₂ deficiency should be considered in children presenting with failure to thrive, especially when compounded with neurological symptoms. Early diagnosis and adequate treatment is essential to avoid serious complications.     

Low maternal vitamin B12 status during pregnancy is associated with reduced heart rate variability indices in young children

Vitamin B12 plays a vital role in neuronal development, particularly in myelinogenesis. Demyelination of the autonomic nervous system occurs early in vitamin B12 deficiency. However, the impact of maternal vitamin B12 deficiency during pregnancy on neuronal function in the offspring is poorly documented. The objective of this study was to assess cardiac autonomic nervous activity in children born to mothers with low vitamin B12 status during pregnancy using heart rate variability (HRV) indices in the frequency domain. Seventy‐nine healthy children between 3 and 8 years of age were evaluated from an ongoing birth cohort. The blood sample of the mother had been stored and was analysed for plasma vitamin B12 following enrolment of the child. Subjects were divided, based on the median maternal first trimester vitamin B12 status (114 pmol L^?1), into lower (n = 40) and higher (n = 39) vitamin B12 status groups. A lead II electrocardiogram was recorded in the supine posture and subjected to HRV analysis. Low‐frequency HRV in absolute units was reduced significantly in children of the lower vitamin B12 status group (P = 0.03) and was 53% that of the higher vitamin B12 status group. There was a significant association between low‐frequency and total power HRV with cord blood vitamin B12 levels (ρ = 0.31 and 0.30, both P = 0.03). In summary, children born to mothers with a lower vitamin B12 status have a reduced cardiac sympathetic activity. The long‐term implication of this needs to be evaluated by follow‐up studies.     

Maternal Folate and Vitamin B12 Status and Neural Tube Defects in Northern Iran: A Case Control Study

Objective

This study was conducted to determine the serum level of folic acid and vitamin B12 in neural tube defects pregnancies (NTD) and healthy controls in Northern Iran.

Methods

This case-control study was performed on women with neural tube defects pregnancies and controls with unaffected pregnancies in Northern Iran during 2006. Twenty three pregnant women whose pregnancies were diagnosed as NTD by a second-trimester ultrasonographic examination were recruited as cases. The control group (n=23) consisted of women who were selected among socio-economic status (SES) matched women who had a normal targeted ultrasound during the second trimester with documented normal fet al outcome. Fetal NTD was suspected with targeted second-trimester ultrasound during the 16^th week of gestation and confirmed with high maternal serum α-fetoprotein levels. Folate, vitamin B₁₂, homocysteine and alpha fetoprotein were evaluated after target ultrasonography.

Findings

Serum alpha fetoprotein level (mean±SD) in cases and controls was 120.2±64.1 and 50±33.5 iu/ml, respectively (P<0.05). The mean±SD folate in cases and controls was 8.4±4.2 versus 9.3±4.2 ng/ml, respectively. This difference was not significant. Folate deficiency was found in 30.4% of the cases and 13% of the controls (OR=2.9, 95%: 0.54–19.8). Vitamin B12 deficiency was found in 13% of cases and 17.7% of the controls (OR=0.7, 95%: 0.1-4.9).

Conclusion

This study showed that the probability of having a newborn with NTDs in maternal folate deficiency is three times higher than with normal folate in Northern Iran.