Gut Microbiome in early life and Bone Health Outcomes at Age 6: a Danish Mother-Child Cohort Study.

The gut microbiome is associated with bone mass acquisition, yet evidence in childhood remains limited. Given that lower peak bone mass predicts osteoporosis in later life, understanding early influences is important. This analysis explores the association between the early life gut microbiome and bone health in later childhood.

Risk behaviours and non-atopic comorbidities of adolescents with asthma.

Background: Risk behaviours, obesity, and neuropsychiatric comorbidity have been demonstrated in various chronic diseases but are less well described among adolescents with asthma.

Methods: We clinically assessed asthma status at the 18-year follow-up visit of the Danish Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC) birth cohort born to mothers with asthma, and we investigated risk behaviours and non-atopic comorbidities. We included obesity and neuropsychiatric diseases captured from medical records and electronic questionnaires on behavioural traits and psychopathology.

Maternal interleukin 6 in pregnancy is associated with executive functioning in 10-year-old children.

Background: Elevated maternal interleukin 6 (IL-6) during pregnancy has been associated with adverse fetal brain development and neurodevelopmental disorders, which often involve executive functioning (EF) impairments. However, the association between maternal IL-6 levels during pregnancy and EF remains largely unexplored.

Methods: The COPSYCH study is based on the prospective COPSAC2010 birth cohort of 700 mother-child pairs, recruited during pregnancy.

Maternal dietary patterns, breastfeeding duration, and their association with child cognitive function and head circumference growth: A prospective mother-child cohort study.

Background: Early life is a critical period for neurodevelopment, where factors such as maternal nutrition and breastfeeding duration significantly impact the growth of head circumference and cognitive development in children. Our study aimed to explore the associations between maternal dietary patterns during pregnancy, duration of breastfeeding, and their impacts on child head circumference and cognitive outcomes.

Methods And Findings: Our study utilised data from the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood 2010 cohort, which enrolled 700 mother-child pairs between 2008 and 2010 with 86% clinical follow-up at age 10.

Maternal Inflammatory Proteins in Pregnancy and Neurodevelopmental Disorders at Age 10 Years.

Importance: Maternal inflammation during pregnancy has been associated with an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism, and cognitive deficits in early childhood. However, little is known about the contributions of a wider range of inflammatory proteins to this risk.

Objective: To determine whether maternal inflammatory proteins during pregnancy are associated with the risk of NDDs and executive functions (EF) in middle childhood and to identify protein patterns associated with NDDs and EF.

A western dietary pattern during pregnancy is associated with neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and adolescence.

Despite the high prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders, the influence of maternal diet during pregnancy on child neurodevelopment remains understudied. Here we show that a western dietary pattern during pregnancy is associated with child neurodevelopmental disorders. We analyse self-reported maternal dietary patterns at 24 weeks of pregnancy and clinically evaluated neurodevelopmental disorders at 10 years of age in the COPSAC2010 cohort (n = 508).

Infant Gut Microbiota and Childhood Blood Pressure: Prospective Associations and the Modifying Role of Breastfeeding.

Background: Germ-free mice experiments indicate that human gut microbiota influence blood pressure (BP), but no studies have prospectively examined if infant gut microbiota affects their future childhood BP. We aim to investigate prospective associations of infant gut microbiota diversity and composition with childhood BP, examining effect measure modification by breastfeeding and mediation by a child's body mass index.

Methods And Results: In the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood 2010 cohort, we measured infant gut microbiota (16S rRNA V4) at 1 week, 1 month, and 1 year and child BP at 3 and 6 years.

Neurodevelopment within the first three years of life does not predict psychotic experiences at age 10: A prospective cohort study.

Background: Early childhood developmental delays and lower cognitive and motor function have been found to be related to psychotic experiences (PE) in middle childhood. These findings suggest a neurodevelopmental pathway to PE in childhood. This study examined if prospectively assessed neurodevelopment in infancy from birth to age 3 predicted PE at age 10.

Fish oil and vitamin D in pregnancy for the prevention of early childhood asthma: study protocol for two double-blinded, randomised controlled trials.

Introduction: Previous randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have indicated a protective role of pregnancy supplementation with fish oil and high-dose vitamin D, respectively, on offspring asthma, infections and several other disorders in early childhood. However, current evidence is not considered sufficient for recommending these supplements in pregnancy. In two RCTs, we aim to investigate whether these protective effects can be confirmed in larger trials with the goal of changing clinical practice and improving child health.

No association between the early-life gut microbiota and childhood body mass index and body composition.

Background: The gut microbiota has been implicated in adult obesity, but the causality is still unclear. It has been hypothesized that an obesity-prone gut microbiota can be established in infancy, but only few studies have examined the early-life gut microbiota in relation to obesity in childhood, and no consistent associations have been reported. Here, we examine the association between the early-life gut microbiota and body mass index (BMI) development and body composition throughout childhood.

Design of the 18-year follow-up of the Danish COPSAC birth cohort.

Background: Atopic diseases, obesity and neuropsychiatric disorders are lifestyle-related and environmental-related chronic inflammatory disorders, and the incidences have increased in the last years.

Objective: To outline the design of the 18-year follow-up of the Copenhagen Prospective Study on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC) birth cohort, where risk factors of atopic diseases, obesity and neuropsychiatric disorders are identified through extensive characterisation of the environment, along with deep clinical phenotyping and biosampling for omics profiling.

Methods: COPSAC is a Danish prospective clinical birth cohort study of 411 children born to mothers with asthma who were enrolled at 1 month of age and closely followed at the COPSAC clinical research unit through childhood for the development of atopic diseases.

Fish oil supplementation during pregnancy, anthropometrics, and metabolic health at age ten: A randomized clinical trial.

Background: We previously reported that children of mothers who received fish oil supplementation during pregnancy had higher body mass index [BMI (in kg/m)] at 6 y of age as well as a concomitant increase in fat-, muscle, and bone mass, but no difference in fat percentage.

Objectives: Here, we report follow-up at age 10 y including assessment of metabolic health.

Methods: This is a follow-up analysis of a randomized clinical trial conducted among 736 pregnant females and their offspring participating in the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood mother-child cohort.

A Western Dietary Pattern during Pregnancy is Associated with Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence.

Despite the high prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders, there is a notable gap in clinical studies exploring the impact of maternal diet during pregnancy on child neurodevelopment. This observational clinical study examined the association between pregnancy dietary patterns and neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as their symptoms, in a prospective cohort of 10-year-old children (n=508). Data-driven dietary patterns were derived from self-reported food frequency questionnaires.

High-dose vitamin D3 supplementation in pregnancy and risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in the children at age 10: A randomized clinical trial.

Background: Vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy may increase the risk of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the effect of vitamin D3 supplementation in pregnancy on risk of autism and ADHD.

Design: This randomized clinical trial was part of the COpenhagen Prospective Study on Neuro-PSYCHiatric Development (COPYCH) project nested within the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood 2010 (COPSAC2010) cohort comprising a population-based sample of 700 healthy mother-child pairs enrolled at week 24 of pregnancy.

Maternal inflammation during pregnancy is associated with risk of ADHD in children at age 10.

Introduction: Maternal inflammation during pregnancy may affect early neurodevelopment in offspring as suggested by preclinical and register data. However, clinical evidence for risk of aberrant neurodevelopment later in childhood is scarce. In the population-based COPSAC mother-child cohort, we investigated associations between maternal inflammation levels during pregnancy and the risk of a diagnosis of ADHD as well as the load of ADHD symptoms in the children at age 10.

COVID-19 lockdown, genetic ADHD susceptibility, and mental health in 10- year-old children.

Previous studies report that the COVID-19 lockdown had an impact on the mental health of the pediatric population. In this study, we harness the deep neuropsychiatric phenotyping of the population-based COPSAC (n = 700) cohort at age 10 to study the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on mental health outcomes with focus on the role of the genetic vulnerability to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), in the form of polygenic risk scores (PRS). A total of 593 children were examined between 2019 and 2021, resulting in two groups of different children, those evaluated before the lockdown (n = 230) and those evaluated after (n = 363).

Effects of prenatal nutrient supplementation and early life exposures on neurodevelopment at age 10: a randomised controlled trial - the COPSYCH study protocol.

Introduction: Nutrient deficiency and immune and inflammatory disturbances in early life may compromise neurodevelopment and be implicated in the aetiology of psychiatric disorders. However, current evidence is limited by its predominantly observational nature. COpenhagen Prospective Study on Neuro-PSYCHiatric Development (COPSYCH) is a research alliance between Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC) and Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research with the overall aim to investigate effects of prenatal and early life exposures on neurodevelopment at 10 years.

Supplementation With Fish Oil in Pregnancy Reduces Gastroenteritis in Early Childhood.

Background: We hypothesized that insufficient intake of fish oil-derived omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LCPUFAs) during pregnancy is a contributing factor to gastroenteritis in early childhood. We examined the effect of n-3 LCPUFA supplementation on gastroenteritis symptoms in the offspring's first 3 years of life.

Methods: This was a double-blinded, randomized controlled trial whereby 736 mothers were administered n-3 LCPUFA or control from pregnancy week 24 until 1 week after birth.

[Obesity in children and adolescents is a chronic disease].

WHO declared obesity a disease in 1979 and has named childhood obesity one of the most pervasive health challenges in the 21st century. The Danish Paediatric Society concordantly declares childhood obesity a chronic disease. Early treatment of obesity can prevent the disease from escalating into significant psychosocial and somatic complications arising in most organs with the potential to compromise normal growth and development.

Fish Oil Supplementation in Pregnancy and Neurodevelopment in Childhood-A Randomized Clinical Trial.

A double-blind randomized controlled trial of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 LCPUFA) supplementation or matching placebo during third trimester of pregnancy was conducted within the COPSAC mother-child cohort consisting of 736 women and their children. The objective was to determine if maternal n-3 LCPUFA pregnancy supplementation affects offspring neurodevelopment until 6 years. Neurodevelopment was evaluated in 654 children assessing age of motor milestone achievement, language development, cognitive development, general neurodevelopment, and emotional and behavioral problems.

High-Dose Vitamin D Supplementation in Pregnancy and Neurodevelopment in Childhood: A Prespecified Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Observational studies have reported an association between high maternal vitamin D levels and improved neurodevelopment in offspring, but no randomized clinical trial (RCT) has investigated these observations.

Objective: To determine whether high-dose vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy improves offspring neurodevelopment from birth to age 6 years.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This prespecified secondary analysis of a double-blinded, placebo-controlled RCT of high-dose vitamin D3 supplementation vs standard dose during the third trimester of pregnancy was conducted in the unselected prospective mother-child birth cohort at a single-center research unit in Denmark as part of the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood 2010 (COPSAC-2010).

Novel loci for childhood body mass index and shared heritability with adult cardiometabolic traits.

The genetic background of childhood body mass index (BMI), and the extent to which the well-known associations of childhood BMI with adult diseases are explained by shared genetic factors, are largely unknown. We performed a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of BMI in 61,111 children aged between 2 and 10 years. Twenty-five independent loci reached genome-wide significance in the combined discovery and replication analyses.

Association between childhood asthma and attention deficit hyperactivity or autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review with meta-analysis.

Background: Children with asthma are at risk of depression and anxiety and growing evidence suggest they may also be at risk of attention deficit hyperreactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here, we conducted a systematic review with meta-analysis of studies investigating association between asthma and ADHD or ASD in children.

Methods: A comprehensive search using PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library databases was completed in March 2019.