Comment

Early-life prevention of non-communicable diseases

Estrogenic chemicals are common pollutants in wastewater and current effluent treatment processes are not typically effective in removing these compounds. Tetra-amido macrocyclic ligands (TAMLs) are catalysts that mimic endogenous peroxidases that may provide a solution to remove environmental pollutants including low concentrations of estrogenic compounds. Yet relatively little is known about the toxicity of TAMLs, and few studies have evaluated whether they may have endocrine disrupting properties. We administered one of three doses of a TAML, NT7, to mice via drinking water throughout pregnancy and lactation. Two pharmacologically active compounds, ethinyl estradiol (EE2) and flutamide were also included to give comparator data for estrogen receptor agonist and androgen receptor antagonist activities. Male pups were evaluated for several outcomes at weaning, puberty, and early adulthood. We found that EE2 exposures during gestation and the perinatal period induced numerous effects that were observed across the three ages including changes to spleen and testis weight and drastic effects on the morphology of the mammary gland. Flutamide had fewer effects but altered anogenital distance at weaning as well as spleen, liver, and kidney weight. In contrast, relatively few effects of NT7 were observed, but included alterations to spleen weight and modest changes to adult testis weight and morphology of the mammary gland at weaning. Collectively, these results provide some of the first evidence suggesting that NT7 may alter some hormone-sensitive outcomes, but that the effects were distinct from either EE2 or flutamide. Additional studies are needed to characterize the biological activity of this and other TAML catalysts.

Research has demonstrated the importance of the family environment in the eating and activity levels of offspring. We examined the cross-sectional associations between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and diet quality of parents and the MVPA and diet quality of pre-adolescents. Interactions were tested to assess whether the child's sex and the parental level of involvement in daily child care moderated these associations.

Data from 2467 pre-adolescents (age 11.5 ± 0.2 years; collected in 2015–2016) and their parents or caregivers from a large-scale prospective birth cohort study in Amsterdam (ABCD-study) was used. Parents and pre-adolescents individually reported their diet quality and physical activity. Child care involvement was assessed using the Caregiver Child Interaction Scale. With hierarchical linear regression analyses, we assessed the independent contribution of fathers and mothers.

An association between mother-child MVPA was found (β = 0.013; 95 % CI: 0.006;0.021). The association between father-child MVPA was only significant for highly involved fathers (β = 0.014; 95 % CI: 0.004;0.023). The child's sex did not change these MVPA associations. Regarding diet quality, associations were found between mother-child diet quality score (DQS) (β = 0.254; 95 % CI: 0.192;0.316) and father-child DQS, with stronger associations between fathers and sons (β = 0.234; 95 % CI: 0.169;0.298) than between fathers and daughters (β = 0.114; 95 % CI: 0.047;0.181). Parental levels of involvement did not change these associations.

These findings demonstrate that both parental behaviours represent an important factor in physical activity and diet quality in pre-adolescents in a sex-specific manner. As such, it is essential to include both parents in research to obtain the necessary insights for developing effective interventions to promote children's healthy eating and physical activity behaviours.

L’historiographie des maladies s’est longtemps limitée à celle des épisodes de crise, comme les épidémies ou les famines. Jusqu’au XIX^e siècle, seules les maladies transmissibles étaient historiquement visibles. L’avènement de la médecine anatomoclinique, expérimentale et biologique, ainsi que l’allongement de l’espérance de vie ont profondément modifié la fréquence des maladies. Les maladies chroniques cardio-métaboliques, oncologiques et dégénératives ont pris le pas sur les maladies transmissibles. L’outil épidémiologique et la révolution génétique ont abouti à de nouveaux concepts. Dans les pays riches ou émergents, l’intégration de l’environnement alimentaire, social et du mode de vie dans l’épigénome lors de la programmation fœtale plaide en faveur d’une origine développementale des maladies chroniques. Aujourd’hui, maladies transmissibles et développementales sont appelées à cohabiter, comme le rappellent les épidémies modernes.

The historiography of diseases has long been limited to that of crisis episodes such as epidemics or famines. Until the 19th century only communicable diseases were historically visible. The development of anatomo-clinical, experimental and biological medicine as well as the increase in life expectancy have profoundly changed the frequencies of these diseases. Chronic cardiometabolic, oncological and degenerative diseases have taken over from communicable diseases. Epidemiological tools and the genetic revolution have led to new concepts. In rich and emerging countries, the integration of foods, social and lifestyle environments into the epigenome during fetal programming argues in favor of developmental origins of chronic diseases. Today, health may be considered as a complex continuum beginning in the prenatal period and continuing throughout life. However, communicable and developmental diseases coexist as recent epidemics remind us.

Physical exercise is known to have beneficial effects on general health and wellbeing in humans and it is also related to neuronal plasticity, increasing neurogenesis and consequently leading to improvements in processes such as learning and memory. In this sense, wheel running performance in mice appears as an extensively used behavioral approach for neurobiological studies. Here, we explored the running patterns in CF1 male and female mice allowing voluntary wheel running for 20 min along three consecutive days. We analyzed differences in the accumulated distance traveled, instant velocity, and latency to run and breaks taken in both males and females, comparing performance between days. Results revealed that after a first experience with the wheel, animals that had learnt how to run on day 1 quickly look forward to stepping into the wheel in subsequent training days, reflected by a significant increase in daily running distance and velocity. Further, no differences were found in the running performance between males and females. In summary, in a first experience with the wheel, animals get familiarized with the wheel and grow accustomed to it.