Pre- and Perinatal Correlates of Ideal Cardiovascular Health during Early Childhood: A Prospective Analysis in the Healthy Start Study

OBJECTIVES

To characterize prevalence of ideal cardiovascular health (ICVH) during early childhood (4-7 years of age), and to identify pre- and perinatal biological, sociodemographic, metabolic, and behavioral correlates of ICVH.

STUDY DESIGN

Among 350 mother-child pairs in the Healthy Start Study, we defined ICVH as no exposure to second hand smoke; ≥1 hour/day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; body mass index ≤85th percentile; systolic and diastolic blood pressure <90th percentile; cholesterol <170 mg/dL, fasting glucose <100 mg/dL; and healthy diet, per the American Heart Association. Pre- and perinatal characteristics were obtained from questionnaires, medical records, and in-person visits. Because of low prevalence of ICVH, we focused on prevalence of meeting ≥6 metrics in the analysis. We examined bivariate associations of each characteristic with % meeting ≥6 metrics and included those that were significant (P < .05) in a multivariable logistic regression model.

RESULTS

ICVH prevalence at mean ± SD age 4.7±0.6 years was 6.9%; boys had twice the prevalence as girls (9% vs 4.4%). Most (>85%) children met criteria for second hand smoke, body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose, and only one-third met criteria for physical activity (31.4%) and diet (35.1%). In multivariable analyses, key correlates of ICVH were maternal weight status (ORoverweight/obese vs nonoverweight/obese = 0.41 [0.23, 0.73]) and offspring sex (ORmale vs female = 2.14 [1.22, 3.65]).

CONCLUSIONS

At age 4-7 years, ICVH prevalence is already low, with diet and adequate physical activity being the limiting factors. Healthy maternal weight prior to pregnancy and male sex are potential determinants of childhood ICVH. Additional work is required to explore associations of early-life ICVH with future health outcomes.

Baculovirus expression of the nucleocapsid protein of a Puumala serotype Hantavirus

Recombinant baculoviruses were generated harboring the entire coding region of the S segment cDNA of Hantavirus strain CG 18-20 that belongs to the Puumala serotype. The recombinant nucleocapsid protein was expressed in Sf9 cells and shown to be antigenically identical with the authentic viral nucleocapsid protein by means of immunoblot analysis. Acute-phase and convalescent sera from European HFRS patients recognized the recombinant nucleocapsid protein in Western blots and the recombinant Baculovirus in indirect immunofluorescence assays. Insect cells infected with the recombinant Baculoviruses proved to be a suitable noninfectious substitute for Hantavirus-infected Vero E6 cells as an antigen source for immunodiagnostic assays allowing the detection of antibodies in HFRS patients.

Molecular organization of RNP complexes containing P11 antigen in heat-shocked and non-heat-shocked Drosophila cells

Immunofluorescence analysis of polytene chromosomes of Drosophila melanogaster using the monoclonal antibody P11 has shown that after heat-shock the 38-kDa P11 antigen almost exclusively localizes at heat-shock puff 93D where it is part of giant puff-specific RNP granules. The biochemical experiments reported here show that, independent of growth temperature, the P11 antigen is a component of nuclear 10S RNP particles. The P11-containing 10S snRNPs can be stabilized in CsCl with 20 mM Mg2+ and possess a buoyant density of rho = 1.4 g/cm3. Sucrose gradient analysis of nuclear RNP extracts of heat-shocked Schneider's S-3 tissue culture cells shows that, after a 37 degree C heat-shock, the 10S RNPs associate with large RNP complexes sedimenting at 170-220S. The change in distribution is a temperature-dependent process with intermediate forms at 29 degrees C and 33 degrees C. In thermotolerant cells this observed change in distribution is strongly reduced. DEAE-Sephacel column chromatography and sucrose gradient analysis of nuclear RNP, followed by Northern blot analysis using 93D-specific probes of the TaqI repeat and immunoblotting experiments, show that the P11-containing 10S snRNPs are distinct from the RNP complexes formed by the 93D transcripts, suggesting an indirect association after heat-shock. Our experiments demonstrate that, despite the fact that a 37 degrees C heat-shock does not affect the overall integrity of nuclear RNP, it imposes changes on the general organization and interaction of the nuclear RNP population, resulting in the formation of large nuclear RNP aggregates and complexes. Such changes may be important for the survival strategy of the cell and for hnRNA processing and storage events which are effected by heat-shock.