While early-life adverse experiences have been linked to late-life cognitive decline, few studies have explored war exposure. Paradoxically, one study even indicated a late-life cognitive advantage of Show more
While early-life adverse experiences have been linked to late-life cognitive decline, few studies have explored war exposure. Paradoxically, one study even indicated a late-life cognitive advantage of early-childhood war exposure. In the present study, we explored these associations. We examined older adults exposed to World War II (1940-1944; Higher cognitive performance in language tasks predicted middle childhood, relative to early childhood, WWII-exposure group membership ( The present findings suggest that better cognitive performance and lower likelihood of MCI or dementia were associated with being exposed to significant hardships, such as war, during middle childhood, regardless of potentially confounding factors. Further studies are needed to shed light on this relationship. Show less
Studies have consistently demonstrated that variants in a number of candidate genes are significant determinants of lipid levels in adults. However, few studies have investigated the impact of these v Show more
Studies have consistently demonstrated that variants in a number of candidate genes are significant determinants of lipid levels in adults. However, few studies have investigated the impact of these variants in children. Therefore, in the present investigation we examined the influence of ten common variants in the genes for lipoprotein lipase (LPL-S447X), cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP-Taq1B) apolipoprotein (APO) E (epsilon2, epsilon3, epsilon4), APOA5 (-1131C>T and S19W), APOA4 (S347T) and APOC3 (-482C>T; 1100C>T and 3238G>C) on lipoprotein levels children from the Gene-Diet Attica Investigation on childhood obesity (GENDAI). The ten variants selected were genotyped in 882 Greek children, mean age: 11.2+/-0.7 years (418 females and 464 males). Genotypes were assessed using TaqMan technology. Significantly higher total cholesterol (TC) (p=0.0001) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (p<0.0001) were observed in APOE epsilon4 carriers compared to epsilon3/epsilon3 homozygotes and epsilon2 carriers. The association of APOE genotype with TC and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio (p=0.0008) was further modulated by body mass index. Carriers of the CETP TaqIB B2 allele had significantly higher HDL-C (p<0.0001) and significantly lower TC: HDL-C ratio (p<0.0001) compared to B1/B1 individuals. No significant associations were observed between APOA4, APOA5 and APOC3 variants and serum lipids. This study demonstrates that these common variants are associated with lipid levels in this healthy paediatric cohort, suggesting that even in these young children there may be potential in predicting their lifelong exposure to an adverse lipid profile. Show less