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Atopy, home environment and the risk of childhood-onset type 1 diabetes: a population-based case-control study.

Pediatr Diabetes. 2008 Jun;9(3 Pt 1):191-6

Authors: Cardwell CR, Carson DJ, Yarnell J, Shields MD, Patterson CC

BACKGROUND: The marked increases in the incidence of type 1 diabetes in recent decades strongly suggest the role of environmental influences. These environmental influences remain largely unknown. OBJECTIVE: To investigate atopy and home environment (such as children living at home, sharing a bedroom and house moves) as potential risk factors for type 1 diabetes. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: In Northern Ireland, 175 children with type 1 diabetes and 4859 control children completed a questionnaire on atopy experience, family composition and home environment. Control children from two age groups (6-8 yr old and 13-14 yr old) were identified from randomly selected primary and secondary schools across Northern Ireland. Cases were identified from a population-based type 1 diabetes register. RESULTS: There was little evidence of a difference in the proportion of participants with a history of atopy in the cases compared with controls. There was a significant reduction in the risk of diabetes in children who lived with more siblings {odds ratio (OR) = 0.58 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.39-0.85] in children who lived with three or more siblings compared with one or none} and in children who moved house more often [OR = 0.59 (95% CI 0.40-0.88) in children who moved house twice or more compared with never]. CONCLUSION: The reduced risk of type 1 diabetes in children living with siblings, sharing a bedroom and moving house more often could reflect the protection afforded by exposure to infections in early life and consequently may provide support for the hygiene hypothesis.

PMID: 18547232 [PubMed - in process]

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Chemical Composition, Antioxidant Properties, and Thermal Stability of a Phytochemical Enriched Oil from Acai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.).

J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Jun 4;

Authors: Pacheco-Palencia LA, Mertens-Talcott S, Talcott ST

Phenolic compounds present in crude oil extracts from acai fruit ( Euterpe oleracea) were identified for the first time. The stability of acai oil that contained three concentrations of phenolics was evaluated under short- and long-term storage for lipid oxidation and phenolic retention impacting antioxidant capacity. Similar to acai fruit itself, acai oil isolates contained phenolic acids such as vanillic acid (1,616 +/- 94 mg/kg), syringic acid (1,073 +/- 62 mg/kg), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (892 +/- 52 mg/kg), protocatechuic acid (630 +/- 36 mg/kg), and ferulic acid (101 +/- 5.9 mg/kg) at highly enriched concentrations in relation to acai pulp as well as (+)-catechin (66.7 +/- 4.8 mg/kg) and numerous procyanidin oligomers (3,102 +/- 130 mg/kg). Phenolic acids experienced up to 16% loss after 10 weeks of storage at 20 or 30 degrees C and up to 33% loss at 40 degrees C. Procyanidin oligomers degraded more extensively (23% at 20 degrees C, 39% at 30 degrees C, and 74% at 40 degrees C), in both high- and low-phenolic acai oils. The hydrophilic antioxidant capacity of acai oil isolates with the highest phenolic concentration was 21.5 +/- 1.7 micromol Trolox equivalents/g, and the total soluble phenolic content was 1252 +/- 11 mg gallic acid equivalents/kg, and each decreased by up to 30 and 40%, respectively, during long-term storage. The short-term heating stability at 150 and 170 degrees C for up to 20 min exhibited only minor losses (<10%) in phenolics and antioxidant capacity. Because of its high phenolic content, the phytochemical-enriched acai oil from acai fruit offers a promising alternative to traditional tropical oils for food, supplements, and cosmetic applications.

PMID: 18522407 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Lignans and Other Constituents of the Fruits of Euterpe oleracea (Acai) with Antioxidant and Cytoprotective Activities.

J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Jul 26;

Authors: Chin YW, Chai HB, Keller WJ, Kinghorn AD

Using a hydroxyl radical scavenging assay, bioactivity-guided fractionation of a methanol-soluble extract of the fruits of Euterpe oleracea (acai) led to the isolation of 22 compounds of previously known structure. Altogether, 14 of these isolates were found to be active in an in vitro hydroxyl radical scavenging assay and seven of these isolates in a 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay. Dihydroconiferyl alcohol, (+)-lariciresinol, (+)-pinoresinol, (+)-syringaresinol, and protocatechuic acid methyl ester exhibited cytoprotective activity in cultured MCF-7 cells stressed by H 2O 2. Lignans have not been previously reported as constituents of this species and were found to be representative of the aryltetrahydronaphthalene, dihydrobenzofuran, furofuran, 8- O-4′-neolignan, and tetrahydrofuran structural types.

PMID: 18656934 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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The quality of children’s home environment and attachment security in Indonesia.

J Genet Psychol. 2008 Mar;169(1):72-91

Authors: Zevalkink J, Riksen-Walraven JM, Bradley RH

The authors examined the relation of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) Inventory (B. M. Caldwell & R. H. Bradley, 1984) for 0- to 6-year-old Sundanese Indonesian children with the quality of the mother-child attachment relationship (n=44) and attachment-related behaviors during play interactions (n=37) and with characteristics of the Indonesian caregiving context (N=77). Results showed that infants and toddlers with secure attachment relationships lived in higher quality home environments than did children with insecure attachment relationships. In particular, children with insecure-resistant attachment relationships lived in more unsafe and less organized homes with less play material available. For preschoolers, a lower quality home environment predicted more negativity and noncompliance toward their mothers in a play setting outside the home. With regard to the caregiving context, the socioeconomic status of the family was strongly related to the quality of preschoolers’ home environment. Scores on the HOME Inventory for Infants/Toddlers and the HOME Inventory for Early Childhood were related to other culture-specific contextual characteristics for 0- to 6-year old Indonesian children as well. As a whole, the HOME was a good indicator of the general quality of the Sundanese Indonesian home environment.

PMID: 18476478 [PubMed - in process]

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