Shunqing Xu’s research while affiliated with Hainan University and other places

Objectives: Environmental exposure may affect the telomere length (TL) of newborns, which is considered as an early biomarker indicating susceptibility for later life diseases. However, the effects of prenatal organochlorine pesticide (OCP) exposure on newborn TL remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the association between prenatal exposure levels of OCPs during pregnancy and TL in neonatal cord blood. Methods: A total of 168 mother–infant pairs from a birth cohort in Wuhan, China, were included this study. The concentrations of hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs, including β-HCH, α-HCH, and γ-HCH), p,p’-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (p,p’-DDT) and its metabolites (p,p’-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane, p,p’-DDD; p,p’-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene, p,p’-DDE) were measured in cord blood. The associations between the OCPs and the TL in newborns were analyzed by a generalized linear regression model. Stratified analyses by newborn sex, maternal gestational weight gain, and pregnancy body mass index (BMI) were performed to evaluate if the associations were modified by these factors. Results: The detection rates of various OCPs ranged from 50.9% to 100.0%. The median concentration of p,p’-DDE was the highest (33.90 ng/g lipid), followed by β-HCH (8.67 ng/g lipid), and the median concentrations of the other OCPs were between 0.12 and 0.33 ng/g lipid. Among the all newborns, a two-fold increase in the γ-HCH concentration in the cord blood was significantly associated with a 0.024 (95% CI: −0.041, −0.007) decrease in the TL. After stratification by newborn sex, the inverse association between γ-HCH and the TL was only statistically significant in boys, but not in girls (P for interaction <0.05). In addition, after stratification by pre-pregnancy BMI, β-HCH and p,p’-DDT concentrations were significantly associated with a decreased TL in the overweight pre-pregnancy BMI group [−0.111 (95% CI: −0.203, −0.018) and −0.036 (95% CI: −0.049, −0.023), respectively]. Conclusions: Prenatal exposure to OCPs during pregnancy was associated with a decreased neonatal telomere length, which may be affected by the newborn sex and pre-pregnancy BMI. These findings may provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying OCP-induced adverse health effects.

Background Telomere length (TL), mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn), and DNA methylation age (DNAmAge) are common aging biomarkers. However, research on the associations between these three markers at birth and subsequent metabolic status was limited. This study aimed to evaluate the association between TL, mtDNAcn, and DNAmAge in newborns and the variation in metabolic hormones of children at 3 years old. Methods This research involved 895 mother–child pairs from a birth cohort in China, with TL and mtDNAcn measured using quantitative real-time PCR, DNA methylation (DNAm) assessed using Infinium MethylationEPIC Beadchip, and DNAm age (DNAmAge) determined using Horvath’s epigenetic clock. Insulin and leptin levels were measured via electrochemiluminescence assay. Multivariable adjusted linear regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis were utilized to examine the association between aging markers and metabolic hormones. Results The linear regression analysis indicated the percentage change of metabolism hormones for per doubling of aging biomarkers alterations and found significant associations between DNAmAge and insulin levels (adjusted percent change (95% CI), − 13.22 (− 23.21 to − 1.94)), TL and leptin levels (adjusted percent change (95% CI), 15.32 (1.32 to 31.24)), and mtDNAcn and leptin levels (adjusted percent change (95% CI), − 14.13 (− 21.59 to − 5.95)). The RCS analysis revealed significant non-linear associations between TL (Ln transformed) and insulin (Ln transformed) (P = 0.024 for nonlinearity), as well as DNAmAge (Ln transformed) and leptin (Ln transformed) (P = 0.043 for nonlinearity). Specifically, for TL and insulin, a positive association was observed when TL (Ln transformed) was less than − 0.05, which transitioned to an inverse association when TL (Ln transformed) was greater than − 0.05. Regarding DNAmAge and leptin, there was a sharp decline when DNAmAge (Ln transformed) was less than − 1.35, followed by a plateau between − 1.35 and − 0.67 and then a further decline when DNAmAge (Ln transformed) was greater than − 0.67. Conclusions In this prospective birth cohort study, variation in metabolic hormones of children at 3 years old was associated with TL, mtDNAcn, and DNAmAge at birth. These findings suggested that TL, mtDNAcn, and DNAmAge might play a role in the biological programming of metabolic health from birth.

Previous research has assessed the effects of caesarean delivery (CD) on child neurodevelopment; however, whether the effects stem from the surgical procedure itself or its related medical conditions has not been conclusively determined. This study aimed to evaluate the associations among delivery mode, CD-related medical conditions and early childhood neurodevelopment. A total of 3829 maternal-infant pairs from a longitudinal birth cohort in Wuhan City, China, were included in the primary analysis. The neurodevelopment of the children was assessed by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID), the Conners Comprehensive Behaviour Rating Scale and the Chinese version of the Autism Behavior Checklist. Data on delivery mode and medical conditions were collected via medical records from the study hospital. Among the 3829 children for whom the BSID test was completed at two years of age, 50%, 27%, and 23% were delivered vaginally, by necessary CD, and by elective CD, respectively. Compared with vaginally delivered children, Necessary CD was associated with a 16.67% decrease in Mental Development Index (MDI) scores and a 13.37% decrease in Psychomotor Development Index (PDI) scores, while elective CD showed a 20.63% and 20.99% decrease after FDR correction, respectively. Similarly, among the 2448 children for whom the CBRS was completed, necessary CD was found to be associated with conduct disorders (adjusted β: 0.06; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.09), hyperactivity (adjusted β: 0.06; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.11), and hyperactivity index (adjusted β: 0.07; 95% CI: 0.03, 0.11), while elective CD was significantly associated with hyperactivity problem scores (adjusted β: 0.08, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.13). However, no significant association was found between CD and symptoms of autism in children, as assessed by the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC). Conclusion: This study suggested that the adverse impact of CD on child neurodevelopment stems from the procedure itself rather than CD-related medical conditions. It is important to minimize the use of CD when there is no medical necessity. What is Known: • Caesarean delivery (CD) may influence child neurodevelopment and other long-term outcomes. • In China, approximately one-quarter of CD are performed due to maternal request without medical indications. What is New: • The negative impact of CD on the neurodevelopmental outcomes of children may be primarily attributed to the procedure itself, as opposed to related medical conditions. • In the absence of medical indications, unnecessary CD may have adverse impacts on children’s neurodevelopment.

This study aimed to investigate whether fetal growth trajectories (FGTs) could predict early childhood development, indicate intrauterine metabolic changes, and explore potential optimal and suboptimal FGTs. FGTs were developed by using an unsupervised machine-learning approach. Children's neurodevelopment, anthropometry, and respiratory outcomes in the first 6 years of life were assessed at different ages. In a subgroup of participants, we conducted a metabolomics analysis of cord blood to reveal the metabolic features of FGTs. We identified 6 FGTs: early decelerating, early decelerating with late catch-up growth, early accelerating, early accelerating with late medium growth, late decelerating, and late accelerating. The early accelerating with late medium growth pattern might be the optimal FGT due to its associations with better psychomotor development, mental development, intelligence quotient, and lung function and a lower risk of behaviour and respiratory problems. Compared with the optimal FGT, early decelerating and late decelerating FGTs were associated with poor neurodevelopment and lung function, while early accelerating FGT was associated with more severe autistic symptoms, poor lung function, and increased risks of overweight/obesity. Metabolic alterations were enriched in amino acid metabolism for early decelerating and late decelerating FGTs, whereas altered metabolites were enriched in lipid metabolism for early accelerating FGT. These findings suggest that FGTs are predictors of early life development and may indicate intrauterine adaptive metabolism. The discovery of optimal and suboptimal FGTs provides potential clues for the early identification and intervention of fetal origin dysplasia or disease, but further research on related mechanisms is still needed.