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• Preliminar Scientific Programme: Link

• Format: Plenary sessions and presentation of INMA results in person on 11 and 12 June at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park – PRBB, Barcelona (will be broadcast in Streaming) Book these dates! We are waiting for you!

• REGISTRATION: Registration is mandatory as we need your details to send you the information so that you can attend and/or connect via streaming to the different sessions.
  The registration fee is 61€. This cost includes the coffees that will take place during the two days of the conference, and the lunch on 11 June.
  Optional:
  – You can also sign up for the lunch on the 12th of June, which will take place right after the Closing Ceremony which costs 23€.
  – You can also sign up for the dinner on 11 June which costs 30€.
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Registration will be open until 10 May 2024.

Collaborators:

Organochlorine pesticides (OPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are groups of environmental chemicals that are part of the known endocrine disruptors, with the ability to mimic hormones and inducing adverse effects in exposed individuals or their offspring. Due to their toxic, persistent, and bioaccumulative properties, OPs and PCBs contribute to exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which are strictly regulated by international laws (Stockholm Convention). Historically, they were used in agriculture as pesticides, in public health for control insect vectors, and in multiple industrial processes such as electrical transformer manufacturing. The accumulation in the mother’s body and prenatal and early exposure to these environmental contaminants are related to child health and developmental issues and predispose to harmful effects in adulthood. Additionally, children are especially vulnerable to air, water, and soil contaminants as they are in the growth process and their immune system and detoxification mechanisms are not fully developed. Therefore, it is crucial that the environment in which they develop, from conception to adolescence, be protected to ensure their health.

International human biomonitoring programs for environmental exposure, such as NHANES in the United States and HBM4EU in Europe, have highlighted the widespread exposure of humans to numerous environmental chemicals. However, despite the measures taken in the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2009), surveillance of exposure to POPs and associated diseases remains extremely limited in Latin America and other regions of the world.

What does this study add to the available literature?

Given the lack of data in Latin America, we transferred what was learned in the INMA Cohort to a maternal-infant cohort of Panamanian mothers and children (PA-MAMI), which tries to evaluate environmental exposure in early stages of development and the possible adverse impact of Environment and diet in early childhood in Panama.

Our study is pioneer in assessing the concentrations of OPs and PCBs in placenta samples from Latin American women, as well as quantifying hormone activity related due to the combined effect of POPs exhibiting estrogenic hormonal activity. The use of placenta as a biological matrix is of great relevance, as it is recognized as a valuable and readily available source of human tissue for biomonitoring chemical exposure between mother and child. Additionally, it allows for the implementation of effect biomarkers without the limitation of available tissue quantity.

The results of this study reveal that all placenta samples from Panamanian mothers analyzed were positive for at least three POP residues, with over 70% positive for at least six of them. The frequencies of quantified OPs ranged from 100% for p,p’-DDE and HCB to 30.8% for β-HCH, with the highest median concentration observed for lindane (380.0 pg/g of placenta). The detection frequency of PCBs ranged from 70.0 to 90.0%; the highest median concentration was observed for PCB 138 (17.0 pg/g of placenta), followed
by PCB 153 (16.0 pg/g of placenta). Furthermore, all placentas tested positive in the estrogenicity bioassay, highlighting that exposure to lindane was positively associated with estrogenicity, while this association was negative in the case of exposure to PCB 153. Regarding exposure predictors, higher concentrations of p,p’-DDE were associated with increased meat consumption, suggesting that animal fat is an important source of exposure to DDT metabolites.

What are the implications of the results obtained?

The data obtained in the PA-MAMI cohort study can be use as a reference for biomonitoring chemical exposure during pregnancy and its impact on offspring health in Panama and other Central American countries. They are also useful in emphasizing the need to estimate the cocktail effect of environmental contaminants, where exposure to low concentrations may result in undesirable and unsuspected combined effect when considering contaminants individually. Furthermore, these results can help the implementation of legal regulations that reduce exposure to environmental contaminants, which would help prevent possible risks to children’s health and where periodic biomonitoring would allow exploring the effectiveness of such regulations.

Reference: Iribarne-Durán LM, Castillero-Rosales I, Peinado FM, Artacho-Cordón F, Molina-Molina JM, Medianero E et al. Placental concentrations of xenoestrogenic organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls and assessment of their xenoestrogenicity in the PA-MAMI mother-child cohort. Environmental Research 2024; 241:117622.

Link to scientific article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37977273/

Luz María Iribarne Durán
Doctora en Medicina Clínica y Salud Pública
Nicolás Olea
Catedrático Facultad de Medicina/Facultativo Especialista Hospital Clínico
Universidad de Granada/Hospital Clínico S. Cecilio
Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria de Granada (ibs. GRANADA)

Cognitive development is the growth and maturation of thought processes. It is a continuous evolution that, according to the developmental psychology of Jean Piaget, begins with the sensorimotor stage (from birth to approximately 2 years of age) and ends with the formal operations stage (from 11 to 15-20 years), characterized by the beginning of abstract thinking and by the use and contrast of hypotheses. Socioeconomic position increases differences in children’s cognitive development. This has traditionally been estimated through social class, educational level or employment situation. In addition to the influence of socioeconomic position, events that occur within the family context in a stable basis could influence cognitive development, such as the habit of eating together sharing experiences, or relaxing with a story in bed before going to sleep.

The recently published work analyzed the role of socioeconomic position, measured through various indicators, in cognitive development evaluated between 7 and 11 years of age, studying the role of the family context as a potential mediator. Indicators of socioeconomic position were evaluated during pregnancy (family social class, parental education, employment and disposable income) and at 7 (Gipuzkoa) and 11 (Valencia) years (At Risk of Poverty or Social Exclusion (AROPE)). Family context and cognitive development were measured with the Haezi-Etxadi Family Assessment Scale 7-11 (HEFAS 7-11) and Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices (Raven’s CPM), respectively.

The socioeconomic position variable that was best related to cognitive development was family social class, showing that those households belonging to lower social classes had children who obtained lower cognitive scores. The indicators of socioeconomic position were related to subscales of the family context, particularly those related to cognitive stimulation, stress of mothers and fathers, and raising children. This indicated that households with more disadvantaged positions also presented worse scores on the family context scales. In this study it was found that part of the relationship between social class and cognitive development was explained by the family context. When the subscales were taken into account separately, they influenced between 5 and 11% on the relationship, while the percentage was 12% when they were taken into account as a whole.

Both socioeconomic position and family context contribute to children’s cognitive development. Equalizing policies and positive parenting programs could contribute to improving the cognitive development of children

Reference: González L, Popovic M, Rebagliato M, Estarlich M, Moirano G, Barreto-Zarza F, Richiardi L, Arranz E, Santa-Marina L, Zugna D, Ibarluzea J, Pizzi C. Socioeconomic position, family context, and child cognitive development. Eur J Pediatr. 2024 Mar 14. doi: 10.1007/s00431-024-05482-x. Epub ahead of print.

Link to scientific article: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00431-024-05482-x

The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency can be up to 75% in adults, even in Southern European countries where there is a lot of sunshine. Pregnant women and infants in particular are at an increased risk. Vitamin D is important for the development of the immune system, and a deficiency can be linked to allergy and asthma in childhood. While most previous studies only look at allergic and asthma symptoms at one time point, this study goes a step further by examining the effect of vitamin D levels during both pregnancy and childhood.

The current investigation used information on vitamin D levels recorded during the INMA study, during pregnancy for around 2500 participants and at 4 years of childhood for around 800 participants. Answers from questionnaires collected between 1 to 9 years were used to determine whether the child had: allergic rhinitis, atopic eczema, wheeze, and/or asthma.

Around 19% of mothers and 24% of children had a vitamin D deficiency. The study concluded that having a higher vitamin D level at a pre-school age was associated with a smaller chance of having eczema during childhood. Also, having a higher vitamin D level during pregnancy and childhood might lower the chance of late-onset wheezing.

The study builds on existing literature relating to the possible positive effect of vitamin D levels in children of pre-school age on atopic eczema. This could be because vitamin D plays a role in preventing inflammation responses and infections. However, the authors highlight the importance of further studies to evaluate vitamin D levels during pregnancy and childhood, and their relationship with allergic and asthma symptoms later in childhood.

Reference: Sangüesa J, Sunyer J, Garcia-Esteban R, Abellan A, Esplugues A, Garcia-Aymerich J, Guxens M, Irizar A, Júlvez J, Luque-García L, Rodríguez-Dehli AC, Tardón A, Torrent M, Vioque J, Vrijheid M, Casas M. Prenatal and child vitamin D levels and allergy and asthma in childhood. Pediatr Res. 2023 May;93(6):1745-1751.

Link to scientific article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36057646/