Growth Monitoring: A Survey of Current Practices of Primary Care Paediatricians in Europe

Objective

We aimed to study current practices in growth monitoring by European primary care paediatricians and to explore their perceived needs in this field.

Methods

We developed a cross-sectional, anonymous on-line survey and contacted primary care paediatricians listed in national directories in the 18 European countries with a confederation of primary care paediatricians. Paediatricians participated in the survey between April and September 2011.

Results

Of the 1,198 paediatricians from 11 European countries (response rate 13%) who participated, 29% used the 2006 World Health Organization Multicentre Growth Reference Study growth charts, 69% used national growth charts; 61% used software to draw growth charts and 79% did not use a formal algorithm to detect abnormal growth on growth charts. Among the 21% of paediatricians who used algorithms, many used non-algorithmic simple thresholds for height and weight and none used the algorithms published in the international literature. In all, 69% of paediatricians declared that a validated algorithm to monitor growth would be useful in daily practice. We found important between-country variations.

Conclusion

The varied growth-monitoring practices declared by primary care paediatricians reveals the need for standardization and evidence-based algorithms to define abnormal growth and the development of software that would use such algorithms.     

Healthy growth in children with Down syndrome

Objective

To provide cross-sectional height and head circumference (HC) references for healthy Dutch children with Down syndrome (DS), while considering the influence of concomitant disorders on their growth, and to compare growth between children with DS and children from the general population.

Study design

Longitudinal growth and medical data were retrospectively collected from medical records in 25 of the 30 regional hospital-based outpatient clinics for children with DS in the Netherlands. Children with Trisomy 21 karyotype of Dutch descent born after 1982 were included. The LMS method was applied to fit growth references.

Results

We enrolled 1,596 children, and collected 10,558 measurements for height and 1,778 for HC. Children with DS without concomitant disorders (otherwise healthy children) and those suffering only from mild congenital heart defects showed similar growth patterns. The established growth charts, based on all measurements of these two groups, demonstrate the three age periods when height differences between children with and without DS increase: during pregnancy, during the first three years of life, and during puberty. This growth pattern results in a mean final height of 163.4 cm in boys and 151.8 cm in girls (−2.9 standard deviation (SD) and −3.0 SD on general Dutch charts, respectively). Mean HC (0 to 15 months) was 2 SD less than in the general Dutch population. The charts are available at www.tno.nl/growth.

Conclusions

Height and HC references showed that growth retardation in otherwise healthy children with DS meanly occurs in three critical periods of growth, resulting in shorter final stature and smaller HC than the general Dutch population shows. With these references, health care professionals can optimize their preventive care: monitoring growth of individual children with DS optimal, so that growth retarding comorbidities can be identified early, and focusing on the critical age periods to establish ways to optimize growth.     

Maternal depressive symptoms not associated with reduced height in young children in a US prospective cohort study

Background

Shorter stature is associated with greater all cause and heart disease mortality, but taller stature with increased risk of cancer mortality. Though childhood environment is important in determining height, limited data address how maternal depression affects linear growth in children. We examined the relationships between antenatal and postpartum depressive symptoms and child height and linear growth from birth to age 3 years in a U.S. sample.

Methods

Subjects were 872 mother-child pairs in Project Viva, a prospective pre-birth cohort study. The study population is relatively advantaged with high levels of income and education and low risk of food insecurity. We assessed maternal depression at mid-pregnancy (mean 28 weeks'' gestation) and 6 months postpartum with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (score > = 13 on 0–30 scale indicating probable depression). Child outcomes at age 3 were height-for-age z-score (HAZ) and leg length. HAZ was also available at birth and ages 6 months, 1, 2, and 3 years.

Findings

Seventy (8.0%) women experienced antenatal depression and 64 (7.3%) experienced postpartum depression. The mean (SD) height for children age 3 was 97.2 cm (4.2), with leg length of 41.6 cm (2.6). In multivariable linear regression models, exposure to postpartum depression was associated with greater HAZ (0.37 [95% confidence interval: 0.16, 0.58]) and longer leg length (0.88 cm [0.35, 1.41]). The relationship between postpartum depression and greater HAZ was evident starting at 6 months and continued to age 3. We found minimal relationships between antenatal depression and child height outcomes.

Conclusion

Our findings do not support the hypothesis that maternal depression is associated with reduced height in children in this relatively advantaged sample in a high-income country.     

A common genetic variant at 15q25 modifies the associations of maternal smoking during pregnancy with fetal growth: the generation R study

Objective

Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with fetal growth retardation. We examined whether a common genetic variant at chromosome 15q25 (rs1051730), which is known to be involved in nicotine metabolism, modifies the associations of maternal smoking with fetal growth characteristics.

Methods

This study was performed in 3,563 European mothers participating in a population-based prospective cohort study from early pregnancy onwards. Smoking was assessed by postal questionnaires and fetal growth characteristics were measured by ultrasound examinations in each trimester of pregnancy.

Results

Among mothers who did not smoke during pregnancy (82.9%), maternal rs1051730 was not consistently associated with any fetal growth characteristic. Among mothers who continued smoking during pregnancy (17.1%), maternal rs1051730 was not associated with head circumference. The T-allele of maternal rs1051730 was associated with a smaller second and third trimester fetal femur length [differences −0.23 mm (95%CI −0.45 to −0.00) and −0.41 mm (95%CI −0.69 to −0.13), respectively] and a smaller birth length [difference −2.61 mm (95%CI −5.32 to 0.11)]. The maternal T-allele of rs1051730 was associated with a lower third trimester estimated fetal weight [difference −33 grams (95%CI −55 to −10)], and tended to be associated with birth weight [difference −38 grams (95%CI −89 to 13)]. This association persisted after adjustment for smoking quantity.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that maternal rs1051730 genotype modifies the associations of maternal smoking during pregnancy with impaired fetal growth in length and weight. These results should be considered as hypothesis generating and indicate the need for large-scale genome wide association studies focusing on gene – fetal smoke exposure interactions.     

Food composition of the diet in relation to changes in waist circumference adjusted for body mass index

Background

Dietary factors such as low energy density and low glycemic index were associated with a lower gain in abdominal adiposity. A better understanding of which food groups/items contribute to these associations is necessary.

Objective

To ascertain the association of food groups/items consumption on prospective annual changes in “waist circumference for a given BMI” (WC_BMI), a proxy for abdominal adiposity.

Design

We analyzed data from 48,631 men and women from 5 countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. Anthropometric measurements were obtained at baseline and after a median follow-up time of 5.5 years. WC_BMI was defined as the residuals of waist circumference regressed on BMI, and annual change in WC_BMI (ΔWC_BMI, cm/y) was defined as the difference between residuals at follow-up and baseline, divided by follow-up time. The association between food groups/items and ΔWC_BMI was modelled using centre-specific adjusted linear regression, and random-effects meta-analyses to obtain pooled estimates.

Results

Higher fruit and dairy products consumption was associated with a lower gain in WC_BMI whereas the consumption of white bread, processed meat, margarine, and soft drinks was positively associated with ΔWC_BMI. When these six food groups/items were analyzed in combination using a summary score, those in the highest quartile of the score – indicating a more favourable dietary pattern –showed a ΔWC_BMI of −0.11 (95% CI −0.09 to −0.14) cm/y compared to those in the lowest quartile.

Conclusion

A dietary pattern high in fruit and dairy and low in white bread, processed meat, margarine, and soft drinks may help to prevent abdominal fat accumulation.     

Fetal window of vulnerability to airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on proportional intrauterine growth restriction

Background

Although the entire duration of fetal development is generally considered a highly susceptible period, it is of public health interest to determine a narrower window of heightened vulnerability to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in humans. We posited that exposure to PAHs during the first trimester impairs fetal growth more severely than a similar level of exposure during the subsequent trimesters.

Methods

In a group of healthy, non-smoking pregnant women with no known risks of adverse birth outcomes, personal exposure to eight airborne PAHs was monitored once during the second trimester for the entire cohort (n = 344), and once each trimester within a subset (n = 77). Both air monitoring and self-reported PAH exposure data were used in order to statistically estimate PAH exposure during the entire gestational period for each individual newborn.

Results

One natural-log unit increase in prenatal exposure to the eight summed PAHs during the first trimester was associated with the largest decrement in the Fetal Growth Ratio (FGR) (−3%, 95% Confidence Interval (CI), −5 to −0%), birthweight (−105 g, 95% CI, −188 to −22 g), and birth length (−0.78 cm, 95% CI, −1.30 to −0.26 cm), compared to the unit effects of PAHs during the subsequent trimesters, after accounting for confounders. Furthermore, a unit exposure during the first trimester was associated with the largest elevation in Cephalization Index (head to weight ratio) (3 μm/g, 95% CI, 1 to 5 μm/g). PAH exposure was not associated with evidence of asymmetric growth restriction in this cohort.

Conclusion

PAH exposure appears to exert the greatest adverse effect on fetal growth during the first trimester. The present data support the need for the protection of pregnant women and the embryo/fetus, particularly during the earliest stage of pregnancy.     

Temporal trends in the impact factor of European versus USA biomedical journals

Background

The impact factors of biomedical journals tend to rise over time. We sought to assess the trend in the impact factor, during the past decade, of journals published on behalf of United States (US) and European scientific societies, in four select biomedical subject categories (Biology, Cell Biology, Critical Care Medicine, and Infectious Diseases).

Methods

We identified all journals included in the above-mentioned subject categories of Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports® for the years 1999, 2002, 2005, and 2008. We selected those that were published on behalf of US or European scientific societies, as documented in journal websites.

Results

We included 167 journals (35 in the subject category of Biology, 79 in Cell Biology, 27 in Critical Care Medicine, and 26 in Infectious Diseases). Between 1999 and 2008, the percentage increase in the impact factor of the European journals was higher than for the US journals (73.7±110.0% compared with 39.7±70.0%, p = 0.049). Regarding specific subject categories, the percentage change in the factor of the European journals tended to be higher than the respective US journals for Cell Biology (61.7% versus 16.3%), Critical Care Medicine (212.4% versus 65.4%), Infectious Diseases (88.3% versus 48.7%), whereas the opposite was observed for journals in Biology (41.0% versus 62.5%).

Conclusion

Journals published on behalf of European scientific societies, in select biomedical fields, may tend to close the “gap” in impact factor compared with those of US societies.

What''s Already Known About This Topic?

The impact factors of biomedical journals tend to rise through years. The leading positions in productivity in biomedical research are held by developed countries, including those from North America and Western Europe.

What Does This Article Add?

The journals from European biomedical scientific societies tended, over the past decade, to increase their impact factor more than the respective US journals.     

Incidence of End-Stage Renal Disease in the Turkish-Cypriot Population of Northern Cyprus: A Population Based Study

Background

This is the first report of the incidence and causes of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) of the Turkish-Cypriot population in Northern Cyprus.

Methods

Data were collected over eight consecutive years (2004–2011) from all those starting renal replacement therapy (RRT) in this population. Crude and age-standardised incidence at 90 days was calculated and comparisons made with other national registries. We collected DNA from the entire prevalent population. As an initial experiment we looked for two genetic causes of ESRD that have been reported in Greek Cypriots.

Results

Crude and age-standardised incidence at 90 days was 234 and 327 per million population (pmp) per year, respectively. The mean age was 63, and 62% were male. The age-adjusted prevalence of RRT in Turkish-Cypriots was 1543 pmp on 01/01/2011. The incidence of RRT is higher than other countries reporting to the European Renal Association – European Dialysis and Transplant Association, with the exception of Turkey. Diabetes is a major cause of ESRD in those under 65, accounting for 36% of incident cases followed by 30% with uncertain aetiology. 18% of the incident population had a family history of ESRD. We identified two families with thin basement membrane nephropathy caused by a mutation in COL4A3, but no new cases of CFHR5 nephropathy.

Conclusions

This study provides the first estimate of RRT incidence in the Turkish-Cypriot population, describes the contribution of different underlying diagnoses to ESRD, and provides a basis for healthcare policy planning.     

Thyroid stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) intron 1 variants are major risk factors for Graves' disease in three European Caucasian cohorts

Background

The thyroid stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) gene is an established susceptibility locus for Graves'' disease (GD), with recent studies refining association to two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs179247 and rs12101255, within TSHR intron 1.

Methodology and Principal Findings

We aimed to validate association of rs179247 and rs12101255 in Polish and UK Caucasian GD case-control subjects, determine the mode of inheritance and to see if association correlates with specific GD clinical manifestations. We investigated three case-control populations; 558 GD patients and 520 controls from Warsaw, Poland, 196 GD patients and 198 controls from Gliwice, Poland and 2504 GD patients from the UK National collection and 2784 controls from the 1958 British Birth cohort. Both rs179247 (P = 1.2×10⁻²–6.2×10⁻¹⁵, OR = 1.38–1.45) and rs12101255 (P = 1.0×10⁻⁴–3.68×10⁻²¹, OR = 1.47–1.87) exhibited strong association with GD in all three cohorts. Logistic regression suggested association of rs179247 is secondary to rs12101255 in all cohorts. Inheritance modeling suggested a co-dominant mode of inheritance in all cohorts. Genotype-phenotype correlations provided no clear evidence of association with any specific clinical characteristics.

Conclusions

We have validated association of TSHR intron 1 SNPs with GD in three independent European cohorts and have demonstrated that the aetiological variant within the TSHR is likely to be in strong linkage disequilibrium with rs12101255. Fine mapping is now required to determine the exact location of the aetiological DNA variants within the TSHR.     

Developmental origins of physical fitness: the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study

Background

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is a major factor influencing health and disease outcomes including all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease. Importantly CRF is also modifiable and could therefore have a major public health impact. Early life exposures play a major role in chronic disease development. Our aim was to explore the potential prenatal and childhood origins of CRF in later life.

Methods/Principal Findings

This sub-study of the HBCS (Helsinki Birth Cohort Study) includes 606 men and women who underwent a thorough clinical examination and participated in the UKK 2-km walk test, which has been validated against a maximal exercise stress test as a measure of CRF in population studies. Data on body size at birth and growth during infancy and childhood were obtained from hospital, child welfare and school health records. Body size at birth was not associated with adult CRF. A 1 cm increase in height at 2 and 7 years was associated with 0.21 ml/kg/min (95% CI 0.02 to 0.40) and 0.16 ml/kg/min (95% CI 0.03 to 0.28) higher VO_2max, respectively. Adjustment for adult lean body mass strengthened these findings. Weight at 2 and 7 years and height at 11 years became positively associated with CRF after adult lean body mass adjustment. However, a 1 kg/m² higher BMI at 11 years was associated with −0.57 ml/kg/min (95% CI −0.91 to −0.24) lower adult VO_2max, and remained so after adjustment for adult lean body mass.

Conclusion/Significance

We did not observe any significant associations between body size at birth and CRF in later life. However, childhood growth was associated with CRF in adulthood. These findings suggest, importantly from a public point of view, that early growth may play a role in predicting adult CRF.     

Trend in obesity prevalence in European adult cohort populations during follow-up since 1996 and their predictions to 2015

Objective

To investigate trends in obesity prevalence in recent years and to predict the obesity prevalence in 2015 in European populations.

Methods

Data of 97 942 participants from seven cohorts involved in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study participating in the Diogenes project (named as “Diogenes cohort” in the following) with weight measurements at baseline and follow-up were used to predict future obesity prevalence with logistic linear and non-linear (leveling off) regression models. In addition, linear and leveling off models were fitted to the EPIC-Potsdam dataset with five weight measures during the observation period to find out which of these two models might provide the more realistic prediction.

Results

During a mean follow-up period of 6 years, the obesity prevalence in the Diogenes cohort increased from 13% to 17%. The linear prediction model predicted an overall obesity prevalence of about 30% in 2015, whereas the leveling off model predicted a prevalence of about 20%. In the EPIC-Potsdam cohort, the shape of obesity trend favors a leveling off model among men (R² = 0.98), and a linear model among women (R² = 0.99).

Conclusion

Our data show an increase in obesity prevalence since the 1990ies, and predictions by 2015 suggests a sizeable further increase in European populations. However, the estimates from the leveling off model were considerably lower.     

First-borns carry a higher metabolic risk in early adulthood: evidence from a prospective cohort study

Background

Birth order has been associated with early growth variability and subsequent increased adiposity, but the consequent effects of increased fat mass on metabolic risk during adulthood have not been assessed. We aimed to quantify the metabolic risk in young adulthood of being first-born relative to those born second or subsequently.

Methodology and Principal Findings

Body composition and metabolic risk were assessed in 2,249 men, aged 17–19 years, from a birth cohort in southern Brazil. Metabolic risk was assessed using a composite z-score integrating standardized measurements of blood pressure, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein, triglycerides and fat mass. First-borns had lower birth weight z-score (Δ = −0.25, 95%CI −0.35, −0.15,p<0.001) but showed greater weight gain during infancy (change in weight z-score from birth to 20 months: Δ = 0.39, 95%CI 0.28–0.50, p<0.0001) and had greater mean height (Δ = 1.2 cm, 95%CI: 0.7–1.6, p<0.0001) and weight (Δ = 0.34 kg, 95%CI: 0.13–0.55, p<0.002) at 43 months. This greater weight and height tracked into early adulthood, with first-borns being significantly taller, heavier and with significantly higher fat mass than later-borns. The metabolic risk z-score was significantly higher in first-borns.

Conclusions/Significance

First-born status is associated with significantly elevated adiposity and metabolic risk in young adult men in Brazil. Our results, linking cardiovascular risk with life history variables, suggest that metabolic risk may be associated with the worldwide trend to smaller family size and it may interact with changes in behavioural or environmental risk factors.     

The efficacy of pharmacotherapy for decreasing the expansion rate of abdominal aortic aneurysms: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

Pharmacotherapy may represent a potential means to limit the expansion rate of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). Studies evaluating the efficacy of different pharmacological agents to slow down human AAA-expansion rates have been performed, but they have never been systematically reviewed or summarized.

Methods and Findings

Two independent reviewers identified studies and selected randomized trials and prospective cohort studies comparing the growth rate of AAA in patients with pharmacotherapy vs. no pharmacotherapy. We extracted information on study interventions, baseline characteristics, methodological quality, and AAA growth rate differences (in mm/year). Fourteen prospective studies met eligibility criteria. Five cohort studies raised the possibility of benefit of beta-blockers [pooled growth rate difference: −0.62 mm/year, (95%CI, −1.00 to −0.24)], but this was not confirmed in three beta-blocker RCTs [pooled RCT growth rate difference: −0.05 mm/year (−0.16 to 0.05)]. Statins have been evaluated in two cohort studies that yield a pooled growth rate difference of −2.97 (−5.83 to −0.11). Doxycycline and roxithromycin have been evaluated in two RCTs that suggest possible benefit [pooled RCT growth rate difference: −1.32 mm/year (−2.89 to 0.25)]. Studies assessing NSAIDs, diuretics, calcium channel blockers and ACE inhibitors, meanwhile, did not find statistically significant differences.

Conclusions

Beta-blockers do not appear to significantly reduce the growth rate of AAAs. Statins and other anti-inflammatory agents appear to hold promise for decreasing the expansion rate of AAA, but need further evaluation before definitive recommendations can be made.     

Culture and end of life care: a scoping exercise in seven European countries

Aim

Culture is becoming increasingly important in relation to end of life (EoL) care in a context of globalization, migration and European integration. We explore and compare socio-cultural issues that shape EoL care in seven European countries and critically appraise the existing research evidence on cultural issues in EoL care generated in the different countries.

Methods

We scoped the literature for Germany, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Portugal, carrying out electronic searches in 16 international and country-specific databases and handsearches in 17 journals, bibliographies of relevant papers and webpages. We analysed the literature which was unearthed, in its entirety and by type (reviews, original studies, opinion pieces) and conducted quantitative analyses for each country and across countries. Qualitative techniques generated themes and sub-themes.

Results

A total of 868 papers were reviewed. The following themes facilitated cross-country comparison: setting, caregivers, communication, medical EoL decisions, minority ethnic groups, and knowledge, attitudes and values of death and care. The frequencies of themes varied considerably between countries. Sub-themes reflected issues characteristic for specific countries (e.g. culture-specific disclosure in the southern European countries). The work from the seven European countries concentrates on cultural traditions and identities, and there was almost no evidence on ethnic minorities.

Conclusion

This scoping review is the first comparative exploration of the cultural differences in the understanding of EoL care in these countries. The diverse body of evidence that was identified on socio-cultural issues in EoL care, reflects clearly distinguishable national cultures of EoL care, with differences in meaning, priorities, and expertise in each country. The diverse ways that EoL care is understood and practised forms a necessary part of what constitutes best evidence for the improvement of EoL care in the future.     

Association of Maternal and Child Nutritional Status in Brazil: A Population Based Cross-Sectional Study

Background

Although child undernutrition and stunting has been decreasing worldwide while obesity rates increase, these extreme conditions might coexist in families from low- and middle-income countries. We examined the association between maternal and child anthropometric indicators using a population representative sample.

Methods

4,258 non-pregnant women and their children <60 months who participated in the 2006 Brazilian Demographic Health Survey. We compared the distributions of two nutritional indexes of children, height-for-age (HAZ) and body mass index-for age (BAZ) z-scores, by categories of maternal height, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC). Adjusted mean differences and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated from linear regression, taking into account the complex survey design. We also examined the associations of maternal anthropometry with the prevalence of child stunting (HAZ<−2) and overweight/obesity (BAZ>2).

Results

HAZ was positively associated with maternal height and WC in a linear fashion. After adjustment, for sociodemographic characteristics, children whose mothers'' height was<145 cm had 1.2 lower HAZ than children whose mothers were ≥160 cm tall (p-trend<0.0001). After further adjustment for maternal height and maternal BMI, children of mothers with a waist circumference ≥88 cm had 0.3 higher HAZ than those of mothers with WC<80 cm (p-trend<0.01). Adjusted prevalence ratios and 95% CI for stunting by the categories of maternal height (<145, 145–149, 150–154, 155–159 and ≥160 cm) were, respectively, 2.95 (1.51;5.77), 2.29 (1.33;3.93), 1.09 (0.63;1.87), and 0.89 (0.45;1.77), (p-trend = 0.001). BAZ was positively associated with maternal BMI and WC.

Conclusion

We observed a strong, positive association of maternal and child nutritional status. Mothers of low stature had children with lower stature, mothers with central obesity had taller children, and mothers with overall or abdominal obesity had children with higher BAZ.     

Global Burden of Double Malnutrition: Has Anyone Seen It?

Background

Low- to middle-income countries (LMICs) are believed to be characterized by the coexistence of underweight and overweight. It has also been posited that such coexistence is appearing among the low socioeconomic status (SES) groups.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of nationally representative samples of 451321 women aged 20–49 years drawn from 57 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted between 1994 and 2008. Body Mass Index (BMI in kg/m²), was used to define underweight and overweight following conventional cut-points. Covariates included age, household wealth, education, and residence. We estimated multinomial multilevel models to assess the extent to which underweight (BMI<18.5 kg/m²) and overweight (BMI≥25.0 kg/m²) correlate at the country-level, and at the neighborhood-level within each country.

Results

In age-adjusted models, there was a strong negative correlation between likelihood of being underweight and overweight at country- (r = −0.79, p<0.001), and at the neighborhood-level within countries (r = −0.51, P<0.001). Negative correlations ranging from −0.11 to −0.90 were observed in 46 of the 57 countries at the neighborhood-level and 29/57 were statistically significant (p≤0.05). Similar negative correlations were observed in analyses restricted to low SES groups. Finally, the negative correlations across countries, and within-countries, appeared to be stable over time in a sub-set of 36 countries.

Conclusion

The explicitly negative correlations between prevalence of underweight and overweight at the country-level and at neighborhood-level suggest that the hypothesized coexistence of underweight and overweight has not yet occurred in a substantial manner in a majority of LMICs.     

Heritability of cortisol response to confinement stress in European sea bass dicentrarchus labrax

Background

In fish, the most studied production traits in terms of heritability are body weight or growth, stress or disease resistance, while heritability of cortisol levels, widely used as a measure of response to stress, is less studied. In this study, we have estimated heritabilities of two growth traits (body weight and length) and of cortisol response to confinement stress in the European sea bass.

Findings

The F1 progeny analysed (n = 922) belonged to a small effective breeding population with contributions from an unbalanced family structure of just 10 males and 2 females. Heritability values ranged from 0.54 (±0.21) for body weight to 0.65 (±0.22) for standard body length and were low for cortisol response i.e. 0.08 (±0.06). Genetic correlations were positive (0.94) between standard body length and body weight and negative between cortisol and body weight and between cortisol and standard body length (−0.60 and −0.55, respectively).

Conclusion

This study confirms that in European sea bass, heritability of growth-related traits is high and that selection on such traits has potential. However, heritability of cortisol response to stress is low in European sea bass and since it is known to vary greatly among species, further studies are necessary to understand the reasons for these differences.     

A common reference population from four European Holstein populations increases reliability of genomic predictions

Background

Size of the reference population and reliability of phenotypes are crucial factors influencing the reliability of genomic predictions. It is therefore useful to combine closely related populations. Increased accuracies of genomic predictions depend on the number of individuals added to the reference population, the reliability of their phenotypes, and the relatedness of the populations that are combined.

Methods

This paper assesses the increase in reliability achieved when combining four Holstein reference populations of 4000 bulls each, from European breeding organizations, i.e. UNCEIA (France), VikingGenetics (Denmark, Sweden, Finland), DHV-VIT (Germany) and CRV (The Netherlands, Flanders). Each partner validated its own bulls using their national reference data and the combined data, respectively.

Results

Combining the data significantly increased the reliability of genomic predictions for bulls in all four populations. Reliabilities increased by 10%, compared to reliabilities obtained with national reference populations alone, when they were averaged over countries and the traits evaluated. For different traits and countries, the increase in reliability ranged from 2% to 19%.

Conclusions

Genomic selection programs benefit greatly from combining data from several closely related populations into a single large reference population.     

Progressive activation of CD127+132- recent thymic emigrants into terminally differentiated CD127-132+ T-cells in HIV-1 infection

Aim

HIV infection is associated with distortion of T-cell homeostasis and the IL-7/IL7R axis. Progressive infection results in loss of CD127+132− and gains in CD127−132+ CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells. We investigated the correlates of loss of CD127 from the T-cell surface to understand mechanisms underlying this homeostatic dysregulation.

Methods

Peripheral and cord blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs; CBMC) from healthy volunteers and PBMC from patients with HIV infection were studied. CD127+132−, CD127+132+ and CD127−132+ T-cells were phenotyped by activation, differentiation, proliferation and survival markers. Cellular HIV-DNA content and signal-joint T-cell receptor excision circles (sjTRECs) were measured.

Results

CD127+132− T-cells were enriched for naïve cells while CD127−132+ T-cells were enriched for activated/terminally differentiated T-cells in CD4+ and CD8+ subsets in health and HIV infection. HIV was associated with increased proportions of activated/terminally differentiated CD127−132+ T-cells. In contrast to CD127+132− T-cells, CD127−132+ T-cells were Ki-67+Bcl-2^low and contained increased levels of HIV-DNA. Naïve CD127+132− T-cells contained a higher proportion of sjTRECs.

Conclusion

The loss of CD127 from the T-cell surface in HIV infection is driven by activation of CD127+132− recent thymic emigrants into CD127−132+ activated/terminally differentiated cells. This process likely results in an irreversible loss of CD127 and permanent distortion of T-cell homeostasis.