Epidemiological studies of migration and environmental risk factors in the inflammatory bowel diseases

Inflammatory bowel diseases(IBD)are idiopathic chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract well known to be associated with both genetic and environmental risk factors.Permissive genotypes may manifest into clinical phenotypes under certain environmental influences and these may be best studied from migratory studies.Exploring differences between first and second generation migrants may further highlight the contribution of environmental factors towards the development of IBD.There are few opportunities that have been offered so far.We aim to review the available migration studies on IBD,evaluate the known environmental factors associated with IBD,and explore modern migration patterns to identify new opportunities and candidate migrant groups in IBD migration research.

Association between Exposure to Metals during Pregnancy,Childhood Gut Microbiome,and Risk of Intestinal Inflammation in Late Childhood

Alterations to the gut microbiome and exposure to metals during pregnancy have been suggested to impact inflammatory bowel disease.Nonetheless,how prenatal exposure to metals eventually results in long-term effects on the gut microbiome,leading to subclinical intestinal inflammation,particularly during late childhood,has not been studied.It is also unknown whether such an interactive effect drives a specific subgroup of children toward elevated susceptibility to intestinal inflammation.We used an amalgamation of machine-learning techniques with a regression-based framework to explore if children with distinct sets of gut microbes and certain patterns of exposure to metals during pregnancy(metal−microbial clique signature)had a higher likelihood of intestinal inflammation,measured based on fecal calprotectin(FC)in late childhood.We obtained samples from a well-characterized longitudinal birth cohort from Mexico City(n=108),Mexico.In the second and third trimesters of pregnancy,11 metals were measured in whole blood.Gut microbial abundances and FC were measured in stool samples from children 9−11 years of age.Elevated FC was defined as having FC above 100μg/g of stool.We identified subgroups of children in whom microbial and metal−microbial clique signatures were associated with elevated FC(false discovery rate(FDR)<0.05).In particular,we found two metal−microbial clique signatures significantly associated with elevated FC:(1)low cesium(Cs)and copper(Cu)in the third trimester and low relative abundance of Eubacterium ventriosum(OR[95%CI]:10.27[3.57,29.52],FDR<0.001)and(2)low Cu in the third trimester and high relative abundances of Roseburia inulinivorans and Ruminococcus torques(OR[95%CI]:7.21[1.81,28.77],FDR<0.05).This exploratory study demonstrates that children with specific gut microbes and specific exposure patterns to metals during pregnancy may have higher fecal calprotectin levels in late childhood,denoting an elevated risk of intestinal inflammation.

Benefits and risks associated with consumption of Great Lakes fish containing omega-3 fatty acids and polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs)

Introduction Assessment of environmental health effects arising from exposure to multiple substances is often very challenging.This is particularly true when humans are exposed to a mixture that contains both beneficial and harmful substances.A good example relates to the risk and benefits of fish consumption.

Epidemiological Investigation of Risk Factors of the Pregnant Women with Early Spontaneous Abortion in Beijing

Objective： To determine the risk factors of the pregnant women with early spontaneous abortion in Beijing. Methods： A total of 34,417 cases of pregnant women were participated in the survey from January 2000 to December 2013. A questionnaire was informed to each woman. The content of questionnaire includes four parts： general condition, obstetrical history, past history and family history, and living environment and habits. The mental condition was evaluated with Self-Rating Anxiety Scale（SAS） and Self-Rating Depression Scale（SDS）. Results： A total of 32,296 questionnaires were collected. The spontaneous abortion rate in the total sample was 3.0%. There was no significant difference between the normal pregnancy group and spontaneous abortion group in terms of general condition, obstetrical and past history（P〉0.05）. Significant differences between the two groups were found in terms of decoration during pregnancy, keeping pets, near mobile communication base station within 100 m around the residence, drinking during pregnancy, having a cold during pregnancy and SAS（P〈0.05）. Having a cold during pregnancy, decoration during pregnancy, near mobile communication base station within 100 m around the residence, keeping pets and high SAS were determined the independent risk factors of spontaneous abortion by Logistic regression analysis. Conclusions： Having a cold during pregnancy, decoration, keeping pets, near mobile communication base station within 100 m around the residence and high SAS are the independent risk factors of spontaneous abortion in Beijing.