Postnatal determinants of testicular germ cell tumor by histological subtypes: The EPSAM1 and EPSAM2 studies.

The EPSAM study is an ongoing case-control study evaluating the postnatal risk factors for testicular germ-cell tumor (TGCT). We aimed at updating the risk estimates for factors identified in previous EPSAM analyses and studying heterogeneities between seminomas and non-seminomas. TGCT cases (N = 358) and controls (N = 459) were recruited in two phases (EPSAM1, population-based, and EPSAM2, hospital based).

Inflammatory markers in pregnancy - identifying drivers in four large cohorts.

Introduction: Adaptations of the immune system throughout gestation have been proposed as important mechanisms regulating successful pregnancy. Dysregulation of the maternal immune system has been associated with adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. The design and interpretation of human biomarker studies require additional insights in the trajectories and drivers of peripheral immune markers.

Ambient air pollution and childhood obesity from infancy to late childhood: An individual participant data meta-analysis of 10 European birth cohorts.

Ambient air pollution may contribute to childhood obesity through various mechanisms. However, few longitudinal studies examined the relationship between pre- and postnatal exposure to air pollution and obesity outcomes in childhood. We aimed to investigate the association between pre- and postnatal exposure to air pollution and body mass index (BMI) and the risk of overweight/obesity throughout childhood in European cohorts.

Inflammatory markers in pregnancy - surprisingly stable. Mapping trajectories and drivers in four large cohorts.

Adaptations of the immune system throughout gestation have been proposed as important mechanisms regulating successful pregnancy. Dysregulation of the maternal immune system has been associated with adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. To translate findings from mechanistic preclinical studies to human pregnancies, studies of serum immune markers are the mainstay.

Green space exposure and blood DNA methylation at birth and in childhood - A multi-cohort study.

Green space exposure has been associated with improved mental, physical and general health. However, the underlying biological mechanisms remain largely unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between green space exposure and cord and child blood DNA methylation.

Comparison Among Ultra-Thin Coronary Stents: A Network Meta-Analysis.

Ultrathin-strut drug-eluting stents (DES) have been related to potential improvement in stent-related outcomes compared with thicker-struts DES. However, comparisons among different ultrathin devices are lacking. All randomized controlled trials comparing ultrathin (struts thickness <70 µm) and thicker-struts DESs in an all-comers population were included.

Cohort profile: the Turin prostate cancer prognostication (TPCP) cohort.

Introduction: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most frequent tumor among men in Europe and has both indolent and aggressive forms. There are several treatment options, the choice of which depends on multiple factors. To further improve current prognostication models, we established the Turin Prostate Cancer Prognostication (TPCP) cohort, an Italian retrospective biopsy cohort of patients with PCa and long-term follow-up.

Predictors of malignant transformation in oral leukoplakia and proliferative verrucous leukoplakia: An observational prospective study including the DNA ploidy status.

Background: This prospective observational study investigated the determinants of malignant transformation (MT) in localized oral leukoplakia (OL) and proliferative verrucous leukoplakia (PVL).

Methods: Demographic, clinical, histological, and DNA ploidy status data were collected at enrolment. Survival analysis was performed (MT being the event of interest).

[Exposome: from definition to future challenges.].

The exposome concept arises from the need to integrate different disciplines of public health and environmental sciences, mainly including environmental epidemiology, exposure science, and toxicology. The role of the exposome is to understand how the totality of an individual's exposures throughout the lifetime can impact human health. The etiology of a health condition is rarely explained by a single exposure.

Modelling socioeconomic position as a driver of the exposome in the first 18 months of life of the NINFEA birth cohort children.

Background: The exposome drivers are less studied than its consequences but may be crucial in identifying population subgroups with unfavourable exposures.

Objectives: We used three approaches to study the socioeconomic position (SEP) as a driver of the early-life exposome in Turin children of the NINFEA cohort (Italy).

Methods: Forty-two environmental exposures, collected at 18 months of age (N = 1989), were classified in 5 groups (lifestyle, diet, meteoclimatic, traffic-related, built environment).

Association Study between Polymorphisms in DNA Methylation-Related Genes and Testicular Germ Cell Tumor Risk.

Background: Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT), histologically classified as seminomas and nonseminomas, are believed to arise from primordial gonocytes, with the maturation process blocked when they are subjected to DNA methylation reprogramming. SNPs in DNA methylation machinery and folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism genes have been postulated to influence the proper establishment of DNA methylation.

Methods: In this pathway-focused investigation, we evaluated the association between 273 selected tag SNPs from 28 DNA methylation-related genes and TGCT risk.

Prenatal exposure to PM and changes in DNA methylation and telomere length in cord blood.

Background: Air pollution exposure in pregnancy can cause molecular level alterations that might influence later disease susceptibility.

Objectives: We investigated DNA methylation (DNAm) and telomere length (TL) in the cord blood in relation to gestational PM exposure and explored potential gestational windows of susceptibility.

Methods: Cord blood epigenome-wide DNAm (N = 384) and TL (N = 500) were measured in children of the Italian birth cohort Piccolipiù, using the Infinium Methylation EPIC BeadChip and qPCR, respectively.

COVID-19-like symptoms and their relation to the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in children and adults of an Italian birth cohort.

Objectives: to estimate the population prevalence of COVID-19-like symptoms in children and adults during the first SARS-CoV-2 epidemic wave hitting Italy in the spring 2020; to assess their geographical correlation with the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases by province; to analyse their clustering within families; to estimate their sensitivity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for COVID-19 diagnosis in individuals tested for SARS-CoV-2.

Design: cross-sectional study nested within a birth cohort.

Setting And Participants: mothers participating in an Italian birth cohort (NINFEA) were invited to complete an online questionnaire on COVID-19-like symptoms in their household.

Effect of Maternal Prepregnancy/Early-Pregnancy Body Mass Index and Pregnancy Smoking and Alcohol on Congenital Heart Diseases: A Parental Negative Control Study.

Background Congenital heart diseases (CHDs) are the most common congenital anomaly. The causes of CHDs are largely unknown. Higher prenatal body mass index (BMI), smoking, and alcohol consumption are associated with increased risk of CHDs.

Birthweight DNA methylation signatures in infant saliva.

Background: Low birthweight has been repeatedly associated with long-term adverse health outcomes and many non-communicable diseases. Our aim was to look-up cord blood birthweight-associated CpG sites identified by the PACE Consortium in infant saliva, and to explore saliva-specific DNA methylation signatures of birthweight.

Methods: DNA methylation was assessed using Infinium HumanMethylation450K array in 135 saliva samples collected from children of the NINFEA birth cohort at an average age of 10.

Socioeconomic inequalities in reproductive outcomes in the Italian NINFEA birth cohort and the Piedmont Birth Registry.

Background: socioeconomic inequalities in reproductive outcomes have been consistently reported in several countries. In a European collaborative study conducted in 2012 whose aim was to investigate the association between socioeconomic position (SEP), measured through maternal education, and preterm delivery inconsistent results were found for the NINFEA birth cohort. However, NINFEA contributed to that study with the first 2,500 pregnancies only, and estimates were not adjusted for any potential confounders assuming that SEP is a distal exposure, that could not be affected by other preterm risk factors.

Factors associated with self-perceived knowledge of COVID-19: a study among women from the NINFEA birth cohort.

Background: health literacy may contribute to the strategies to control the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as individuals need to acquire promptly new health information, understand the reasons behind recommendations, and adapt their behaviour accordingly.

Objectives: to investigate sociodemographic and disease-related factors that can influence self-perceived knowledge (poor/medium vs high) about COVID-19 in women of the Italian NINFEA birth cohort.

Design: cross-sectional study.

Exposure to ambient air pollution in the first 1000 days of life and alterations in the DNA methylome and telomere length in children: A systematic review.

Background: Exposure to air pollution during the first 1000 days of life (from conception to the 2nd year of life) might be of particular relevance for long-term child health. Changes in molecular markers such as DNA methylation and telomere length could underlie the association between air pollution exposure and pollution-related diseases as well as serve as biomarkers for past exposure. The objective of this systematic review was to assess the association between air pollution exposure during pregnancy and the first two years of life and changes in DNA methylation or telomere length in children.