Explore the vast range of titles available.

The Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS) is a birth-cohort study of 100,000 mother–child dyads that aims to investigate the effect of the environment on child health and development. Mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), manganese (Mn) and selenium (Se) are considered to be important co-exposures when examining the effect of other chemical substances on child development. The levels of these elements in the blood of 20,000 randomly selected mid/late-term pregnant women from the whole JECS cohort were analysed using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The median concentrations (interquartile ranges) for Pb, Hg, Cd, Mn and Se were 0.63 (0.51–0.78) µg dl−1, 3.83 (2.70–5.43) µg l−1, 0.70 (0.52–0.95) µg l−1, 16.1 (13.2–19.6) µg l−1 and 178 (165–192) µg l−1, respectively. Hg and Se correlated positively with each other (Spearman’s ρ = 0.287), as did Pb and Cd (ρ = 0.239) and Cd and Mn (ρ = 0.267). The blood Pb levels decreased by 5–10-fold over the past 25 years. The main predictors of the blood levels of each element were fish consumption for Hg, maternal age and non-alcoholic beverage consumption for Pb, maternal age and smoking for Cd, gestational age at sampling for Mn and serum protein levels for Se. These results revealed the historical trends and current predictors of the blood levels of these elements in pregnant Japanese women.

The concentrations of arsenic (As) species in 19 food composites prepared from 159 food items purchased in Shizuoka city, Japan, were determined (1) to estimate total daily intake of inorganic As (InAs) and some organic As species and (2) to determine food contributing to total daily InAs intake. As analysis included extraction of As species with a synthetic gastric juice (0.07 mol/L HCl + 0.01 % pepsin) from food composite and high-performance liquid chromatography–high efficiency photo-oxidation–hydride generation–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. InAs was detected in 9 of 19 food composites at a concentration of 0.423–450 ng As/g fresh-weight. Daily intake of InAs from cereals was greatest (13 μg/person/day) followed by algae (5.7 μg/person/day), and the intake from the two categories constituted 90 % of the total daily InAs intake of adults (21 μg/person/day on a bioaccessible-fraction basis and 24 μg/person/day on a content basis). Analysis of individual food items showed that rice and hijiki contributed virtually 100 % of InAs from cereals and algae, respectively. The present survey indicated that InAs from rice and hijiki consumption contributed to total daily InAs intake and consequently to significant cancer risk of the general Japanese population. Daily intake of some organic forms of As and their contributing food categories was also estimated.

Background Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) is widely used for the accurate measurement of minerals. However, its application to serum essential mineral measurement has not been fully evaluated. The present study aimed to assess the performance of ICP‐MS for serum minerals by comparing its measurements to those obtained using standard quantification methods. Methods Cross‐sectional data were collected from 282 participants from a single facility in Japan. Serum concentrations of eight key minerals, namely sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc, and copper, measured via ICP‐MS and standard methods were compared using Passing–Bablok regression and Bland–Altman plots. Results All minerals, except phosphorus, exhibited good agreement with standard methods, with more stable regression coefficients observed for minerals with greater interindividual variability. After systematically filtering outliers, the mean relative errors were approximately −3% for sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium; +5% for iron; 0% for zinc; and −19% for copper. The outliers for iron were primarily due to mild hemolysis, whereas those for zinc were largely attributed to nonhemolysis factors. For phosphorus, the serum total phosphorus concentration measured using ICP‐MS was approximately 3.5 times higher than the serum inorganic phosphorus concentration measured using standard methods, with a weak correlation observed between the two methods. Conclusion This study provides a practical foundation for future research. Understanding ICP‐MS characteristics will facilitate the development of new approaches in clinical diagnostics. Analysis of real‐world cross‐sectional study data revealed relative errors between the standard method and ICP‐MS for the different minerals tested. Additionally, several outliers were observed exclusively in the ICP‐MS results, likely due to hemolysis or other unidentified factors. Although these limitations in ICP‐MS performance cannot be entirely dismissed, comparative results of the standard method and the ICP‐MS approach exhibited good agreement. The unique characteristics of ICP‐MS identified in this study lay a strong foundation for future research, not only for routine clinical measurement of specific minerals but also for disease‐specific analyses leveraging the ability of ICP‐MS to simultaneously measure a wide range of parameters.

PurposeTo examine the association between elevated blood cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) concentrations and increased risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).MethodsThis cross-sectional study included pregnant women (n = 16,955) enrolled in the Japan Environment and Children’s Study. Concentrations of Cd and Pb in blood samples collected at 22–28 weeks’ gestation were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. GDM was diagnosed according to the 2011 Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Japan Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists criteria. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using logistic regression analysis.ResultsBlood Cd and Pb concentrations were slightly higher among women with GDM than among those without GDM; however, these differences were not statistically significant. Elevated blood Cd and Pb concentrations were not associated with increased GDM risk in the nulliparous group (Cd OR 0.76; 95% CI 0.28–2.08 for high vs low category; Pb OR 2.51; 95% CI 0.72–8.72) or the parous group (Cd OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.29–1.44; Pb OR 0.31; 95% CI 0.04–2.29).ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that Cd and Pb exposure, in the range of blood levels observed, has no significant relationship with the development of GDM. Further prospective studies would be valuable to confirm these findings.

Initiatives to use recycled plastics are crucial for the development of a sustainable society. One of the challenges of using recycled plastics is ensuring the quality and safety of these materials. In this report, multivariate analysis was performed using the results of thermal desorption GC-MS analysis of recycled plastic samples collected from the domestic recyclers to assess similarity and heterogeneity based on the plastic origins. The results of hierarchical cluster analysis indicated that samples could be classified according to the chromatogram data without peak annotation. Moreover, the principal component analysis identified phthalate esters as a potential trait to characterize the origin of recycled plastics from containers and packaging. The results of this report highlight the potential of the chemical analysis not only for the safety management of concerning substances of concern but also as a new method for the quality management of recycled plastics.

PurposeEffects of fetal, perinatal and childhood environment on the health of children at birth and during later life have become a topic of concern. The Aichi regional sub-cohort of the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS-A) is an ongoing birth cohort of pregnant women and their children which has been used to provide unique data, as adjunct studies of JECS, on multifaceted potential factors affecting children’s health.ParticipantsThe JECS-A is part of the JECS which follows a total of 100 000 pairs of children and their mothers (fathers’ participation is optional) across 15 regions in Japan. In JECS-A, of the 8134 pregnant women living in Ichinomiya City and Nagoya City, Japan, a total of 5721 pregnant women and their 5554 children were included. Sociodemographic and psychological data as well as biological specimens were collected from the pregnant women and their spouses (if available) in the cohort during their pregnancy. Information on children included in the JECS-A was collected from their mothers and includes demographic, behavioural, childcare, psychological and psychiatric data. Urine extracted from disposable diapers and anthropometric data were also obtained from the children.Findings to dateA similar distribution trend for age at delivery was confirmed between the pregnant women enrolled in the JECS-A and the national statistics of the relevant areas. However, differences in education level and household income were observed. A total of 5502 children remained in the cohort at 18 months after delivery. Compared with the national statistics, the basic demographics of the children in the cohort represented the population in the study areas.Future plansThe enrolled children in the JECS-A will be followed until the age of 13 years. The studies that come from JECS-A will complement JECS and bring novel results with a high level of generalisability.

The maternal microbiome during pregnancy and the peripartum period plays a critical role in maternal health outcomes and establishing the neonatal gut microbiome, with long-term implications for offspring health. However, a healthy microbiome during these key periods has not been definitively characterized. This longitudinal study examines maternal and neonatal microbiomes using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing in a Japanese cohort throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period. Forty-two mothers and their forty-five offspring participate in the study. The maternal vaginal microbiome remains relatively stable during pregnancy but significantly changes in the postpartum period. Among Lactobacillus species, the Lactobacillus crispatus group is predominant. A higher abundance of Lactobacillus early in pregnancy is associated with a favorable gestational period. The maternal gut microbiome is associated with the vaginal microbiome throughout pregnancy. The neonatal gut microbiome substantially changes in early life, with bacterial composition influenced by delivery mode. Over time, bacteria shared with the maternal gut microbiome become dominant in the neonatal gut. This study provides insights into microbiome dynamics in Japanese mothers and their offspring during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Identification of common patterns across diverse populations may help define keystone microbes essential for human health and inform the development of microbiome-based interventions. Here, in a longitudinal Japanese maternal-neonatal cohort, the authors characterize microbiome dynamics during pregnancy and the postpartum period, showing that early dominance of Lactobacillus crispatus in the vaginal microbiome is associated with favorable gestational outcomes.

Omalizumab has demonstrated clinical efficacy in patients with severe allergic asthma sensitized to perennial allergens and/or severe pollinosis through inhibition of IgE-dependent allergic response. When considering the \"one airway, one disease\" concept, sensitization to pollen could predict responsiveness to omalizumab. This study aimed to assess whether the pretreatment specific IgE response could be a predictor of responsiveness to omalizumab in severe allergic asthma sensitized to perennial allergens. In this retrospective study, 41 adult patients with severe allergic asthma sensitized to perennial allergens (27 females; mean age 59 years) who had completed 52-week omalizumab treatment were enrolled. The Global Evaluation of Treatment Effectiveness was performed, and demographic characteristics and the positive ratios of specific IgE responses classified into five subgroups (pollen, dust mite, house dust, mold, and animal dander) were compared between responders and non-responders. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of responsiveness to omalizumab. Thirty-one patients (76%) were identified as responders. The number of sensitized aeroallergen subgroups and sensitization to pollens were significantly higher in responders than in non-responders (both p<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that sensitization to pollen (OR = 8.41, p = 0.02) was independently associated with the effectiveness of omalizumab. Pretreatment serum pollen-specific IgE could be a predictor of responsiveness to omalizumab.

Background The serum creatinine/cystatin C (Cr/CysC) ratio has attracted attention as a marker for sarcopenia, but has not been studied in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). This study aimed to confirm the utility of the serum Cr/CysC ratio in predicting sarcopenia and investigate its clinical relevance. Methods This cross-sectional pilot study prospectively enrolled patients with stable IPF. IPF was diagnosed through multidisciplinary discussions according to the 2018 international guidelines, and sarcopenia was diagnosed according to the 2019 consensus report of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) were evaluated using the modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnea scale, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease assessment test (CAT), and King’s Brief Interstitial Lung Disease (K-BILD) questionnaire. The associations between serum Cr/CysC ratio and the presence of sarcopenia and other clinical parameters, including PROs scores, were examined. Results The study enrolled 49 Japanese patients with IPF with a mean age of 73.0 ± 7.7 years and a mean percentage of predicted forced vital capacity of 80.4 ± 15.5%. Sarcopenia was diagnosed in 18 patients (36.7%), and the serum Cr/CysC ratio was 0.86 [0.76–0.94] (median [interquartile range]). The receiver operating characteristic curve analyses for the detection of sarcopenia according to the serum Cr/CysC showed that the area under the curve, optimal cutoff value, specificity, and sensitivity were 0.85, 0.88, 0.65, and 0.94, respectively. Sarcopenia was identified in 13% of patients with a high serum Cr/CysC ratio (≥ 0.88) and 60% of patients with a low serum Cr/CysC ratio (< 0.88) ( P  < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the serum Cr/CysC ratio was an independent predictive marker of worse PROs evaluated using mMRC ( P  < 0.05), CAT ( P  < 0.05), and K-BILD ( P  < 0.05). Conclusions This study showed that the serum Cr/CysC ratio may be a surrogate marker of sarcopenia in patients with IPF. Furthermore, it is important to pay attention to the serum Cr/CysC ratio because a lower serum Cr/CysC ratio is associated with worse PROs. Further studies are required to validate these observations to determine whether the Cr/CysC ratio can be used to detect sarcopenia in patients with IPF.