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Introduction: Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) has been inconsistently associated with asthma, allergic diseases and airways infections in early childhood. The aim of the study was, therefore, to investigate the effect of childhood exposure to PFASs on asthma and allergy related outcomes and on airways infections before and during puberty using the prospective birth cohort Environment and Childhood Asthma (ECA) Study. Aspects of gender, exposure period and study design (cross-sectional and longitudinal) were also taken into consideration. Material and methods: Included in the study was 378 participants with PFAS measurements at age 10 years and follow-up data at ages 10 years (cross sectional data) and 16 years (longitudinal data). Eight PFASs with at least 70% of measurements above the limit of quantification (LOQ) in the child’s serum were included in the present study: perfluoroheptanoate (PFHpA), perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), perfluourononanoate (PFNA), perfluorodecanoate (PFDA), perfluoroundecanoate (PFUnDA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), perfluoroheptane sulfonate (PFHpS) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). The PFAS levels were converted into interquartile range (IQR). In addition, perfluorooctane sulfonamide (PFOSA) detected in 60% of the samples, was recoded into “not detected /detected”. Binomial, multinomial and linear regression were used, followed by Bonferroni adjustment to correct for multiple comparisons. Sensitivity analyses evaluating the effect of extreme PFAS values and gender were performed. Results: In the cross sectional data at 10 years a positive statistically significant association was seen between PFHpA and asthma in girls. In the longitudinal data, PFNA, PFDA and PFUnDA were inversely associated with atopic dermatitis (AD) in girls and with PFHxS in all participants and in boys. Further, PFNA and PFHpS were positively associated with rhinitis in girls and with PFOA in all participants. There seems to be a suggestive pattern of increased risk of allergic sensitisation in all participants and a decreased risk in boys, but due to different results in main and sensitivity analyses these findings should be interpreted with caution. No associations were found between PFASs and lung function. For airways infections and longitudinal data, PFDA was inversely associated with common cold, while positive association was found for PFHpA, PFOA, PFHpS and PFOS and lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI). Discussion and conclusion: Our results lend further support for an immunosuppressive effect of PFASs on AD and LRTI. Gender seems to be important for some exposure-health associations. No clear pattern in exposure-health associations was observed with regard to exposure period or study design, with the exception of asthma where significant findings have mostly been reported in cross-sectional studies. Keywords: Perfluoroalkyl substances, Asthma, airways infections, Allergic diseases, Immunosuppression, Immunotoxicity, Childhood, Puberty

The literature on adult outcomes of people born late preterm (LPT, 34–36 completed weeks) or early term (ET, 37–38 weeks) was reviewed. In PubMed, 9547 articles were identified; 53 were eligible. Of these, 12 were based on clinical cohorts, 32 on medical birth register linkages, and nine on historical birth cohorts; 48 out of 53 on Nordic countries; 50 out of 53 reported on LPT and eight out of 53 reported on ET. LPT plus ET have increased early (< 45 years) adult all-cause mortality. Despite increased cardiometabolic risk factors and slightly lower cardiorespiratory fitness in LPT, no studies showed increased risk for coronary heart disease, some showed increased risk for stroke, and all showed increased risk for type 2 diabetes. Most show increased risk for asthma and decreased allergic rhinitis. LPT have slightly lower cognitive abilities and higher rates of several mental disorders; ET have intermediate values. LPT and ET adults have slightly lower education, occupational status, and income. We recommend that authors report findings of LPT/ET separately from those born more preterm.

There were 5,834 participants with complete data on parental social class at birth, childhood cognitive ability tests scores at 11 years, educational qualifications at 33 years, the Big-Five Factor personality traits, occupational levels, and eczema ( measured at age 50 years). Results showed that eczema in childhood, educational achievement and occupational levels were significantly associated with the occurrence of reported eczema in adulthood. Emotionally Stable people (non Neurotic) were less likely to have eczema, but those with high Agreeableness and Openness more likely to have eczema. Childhood cognitive ability was significantly and positively associated with eczema in adulthood 1, forfatterversjon

Background Overweight and atopic dermatitis (AD) are major health problems in most industrialised countries, but the relationship between overweight and AD in infants and young children is unclear. We investigated if weight-for-length at birth, in infancy and at two years, as well as early weight-gain velocity, are associated with the development of AD in early life. Methods Cohort study of infants (n = 642), all living in south-east Norway, hospitalized with acute bronchiolitis (n = 404) or recruited from the general population (n = 238), examined at mean age 5.1 months (enrolment) and at a two-year follow-up visit (n = 499; 78%) at mean age 24.6 months. Exposures were weight-for-length (g/cm) at birth, enrolment and two-year follow-up, and early weight-gain velocity (gram/month from birth to enrolment). Excessive weight-for-length was defined as weight-for-length >95th percentile of WHO child-growth standards. Data on weight-for-length at the three time points were obtained for 435, 428 and 473 children. AD was diagnosed according to the Hanifin & Rajka criteria or from a history of physician-diagnosed AD. We performed multivariate analyses with weight-for-length at birth, at enrolment and at the two-year follow-up visit and with early weight gain velocity for the endpoint AD at each visit. Results In adjusted analyses, excessive weight-for-length at enrolment was associated with concurrent AD (OR 3.03; 95% CI 1.23–7.50) and with AD at two years (OR 2.40; 1.11–5.17). In infants without AD, weight-for-length at enrolment increased the risk of AD at two years, with OR being 1.02 (95% CI 1.00–1.04) per increased gram/cm. AD at two years was not associated with concurrent excessive weight-for-length, nor was AD at any time associated with weight-for-length at birth or with early weight-gain velocity. Conclusions The results suggest that overweight in infancy may contribute to the development of AD in early life, highlighting the need for child health-care professionals to address potential overweight and atopic disease when advising infants’ caregivers. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00817466 , EudraCT number, 2009–012667-34.