The Effect of Weaning with Adult Food Typical of the Mediterranean Diet on Taste Development and Eating Habits of Children: A Randomized Trial

Mediterranean Diet (Med Diet) is one of the healthiest dietary patterns. We aimed to verify the effects of weaning (i.e., the introduction of solid foods in infants previously fed only with milk) using adult foods typical of Med Diet on children eating habits, and on the microbiota composition. A randomized controlled clinical trial on 394 healthy infants randomized in a 1:1 ratio in a Med Diet group weaned with fresh; seasonal and tasty foods of Med Diet and control group predominantly weaned with industrial baby foods. The primary end point was the percentage of children showing a good adherence to Med Diet at 36 months. Secondary end points were mother’s changes in adherence to Med Diet and differences in children gut microbiota. At 36 months, children showing a good adherence to Med Diet were 59.3% in the Med Diet group and 34.3% in the control group (p < 0.001). An increase in adherence to the Med Diet was observed in the mothers of the Med Diet group children (p < 0.001). At 4 years of age children in the Med Diet group had a higher gut microbial diversity and a higher abundance of beneficial taxa. A Mediterranean weaning with adult food may become a strategy for early nutritional education, to develop a healthy microbiota, to prevent inflammatory chronic diseases and to ameliorate eating habits in children and their families.

Contribution of the Cystathionine β-Synthase Gene (844ins68) Polymorphism to the Risk of Early-onset Venous and Arterial Occlusive Disease and of Fasting Hyperhomocysteinemia

The frequency of the heterozygous 844ins68 mutation of the cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) gene and of its association with the homozygous C677T transition of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene, plasma fasting tHcy, folate and vitamin B12 levels were evaluated in 309 consecutive patients with objectively diagnosed early-onset venous (n = 200) or arterial thromboembolic disease (n = 109) recruited over 25 months in Milan (North Italy) and Naples (South Italy). The above gene polymorphisms were also evaluated in a population of 787 unmatched controls, 204 of whom – similar to patients for age- and sex-distribution – had fasting tHcy, vitamins and activated protein C resistance measured in their plasma.

Moderate fasting hyperhomocysteinemia was detected in 15.5% of patients and in 5.9% of 204 controls (Mantel-Haenszel OR after stratification for type of occlusive disease and gender: 2.88; 1.48–5.32). The frequencies of the 677TT mutation of the MTHFR gene and of the heterozygous 844ins68 insertion of the CBS gene were not significantly different in the patient (19.4% and 6.9%) and the control population (16.5% and 7.8%), but the association of the two gene polymorphisms – found in 3.9% of patients and in 1.1% of controls – was significantly associated with an increased risk of venous or arterial occlusive diseases (RR = 3.63; 1.48–8.91). The MTHFR 677TT mutation (RR: 6.92; 3.86–12.4) and its association with the 844ins68 insertion (RR: 21.9; 8.35–57.4), but not the isolated insertion (RR: 0.71), were more frequent in patients and controls with fasting hyperhomocysteinemia than in normohomocysteinemic subjects, irrespective of the type of occlusive disease (venous or arterial). When adjusted for determinants of hyperhomocysteinemia in the patient and the control populations (generalized linear model), fasting tHcy levels were significantly higher in subjects with association of the two gene abnormalities (24.2 ± 3.8 µmol/L) than in subjects with the MTHFR 677TT mutation only (14.0 ± 5.8 µmol/L, p = 0.004). Activated protein C resistance was significantly more prevalent in venous patients (9.9%) than in controls (3.9%, OR = 2.69; 1.08–6.88). Six of 21 venous patients with APCresistance also had hyperhomocysteinemia (RR = 5.04; 0.68–37.6), but isolated fasting hyperhomocysteinemia retained statistical significance for the association with venous occlusive disease (RR = 2.84; 1.34–6.01).

Heterozygosity for the 844ins68 mutation of the CBS gene is not per se a risk factor for premature arterial and/or venous occlusive diseases. However, when detected in combination with thermolabile MTHFR, it increases by almost 4-fold the risk of occlusive diseases (arterial and/or venous), by increasing the risk and the degree of fasting hyperhomocysteinemia.

Spina bifida and folate-related genes: a study of gene-gene interactions

PURPOSE

To assess whether interactions of common alleles of two folate genes contribute to spina bifida risk.

METHODS

Case-control study, comparing 203 children with spina bifida to 583 controls.

RESULTS

Homozygosity for the 677C-T allele of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) alone was associated with an odds ratio for spina bifida of 1.57 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-2.38). For the 844ins68 allele of cystathionine-beta-synthase alone, the odds ratio was 0.83 (95% CI, 0.39-1.64). For the joint genotype, the odds ratio was 3.69 (95% CI, 1.04-13.50).

CONCLUSIONS

Interactions between common alleles of folate genes might contribute to the risk for spina bifida.