Cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO2c) decrease from baseline greater than 20 % during infant cardiac surgery was associated with postoperative neurologic changes and neurodevelopmental impairment at 1 year of age. So far, there is no sufficient evidence to support the routine monitoring of rSO2c during general surgical procedures in children. We aimed to find out the frequency of cerebral desaturation 20 % or more from baseline and to identify possible predictors of change in cerebral oxygen saturation during neonatal and infant general surgery. Forty-four infants up to 3 months of age were recruited. Before induction of anesthesia, two pediatric cerebral sensors were placed bilaterally to the forehead region and monitoring of regional cerebral saturation of oxygen was started and continued throughout the surgery. Simultaneously, mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), pulse oximetry (SpO2), heart rate (HR), endtidal CO2, expired fraction of sevoflurane and rectal temperature were recorded. The main outcome measure was rSO2c value drop-off ≥20 % from baseline. Mann-Whitney U-test, chi-squared test, simple and multiple linear regression models were used for statistical analysis. Forty-three infants were analyzed. Drop-off ≥20 % in rSO2c from baseline occurred in 8 (18.6 %) patients. There were no differences in basal rSO2c, SpO2, HR, endtidal CO2, expired fraction of sevoflurane and rectal temperature between patients with and without desaturation 20 % or more from baseline. But the two groups differed with regard to gestation, preoperative mechanical ventilation and the use of vasoactive medications and red blood cell transfusions during surgery. Simple linear regression model showed, that gestation, age, preoperative mechanical ventilation and mean arterial pressure corresponding to minimal rSO2c value during anesthesia (MAPminrSO2c) were associated with a change in rSO2c values. Multiple regression model including all above mentioned variables, revealed that only MAPminrSO2c was predictive for a change in rSO2c values (β (95 % confidence interval) -0.28 (−0.52–(−0.04)) p = 0.02). Cerebral oxygen desaturation ≥20 % from baseline occurred in almost one fifth of patients. Although different perioperative factors can predispose to cerebral oxygenation changes, arterial blood pressure seems to be the most important. Gestation as another possible risk factor needs further investigation. The international registration number NCT02423369 . Retrospectively registered on April 2015.

As there is some evidence that the risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is partially attributable to environmental exposure to some metals and metalloids, we examined an association between AD and arsenic, chromium, and selenium in 53 AD patients and 217 controls. Urinary arsenic, blood chromium, and selenium were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Logistic regression models calculating odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to estimate AD association with arsenic, chromium, and selenium. In AD patients, urinary arsenic and blood chromium were significantly higher, while blood selenium was significantly lower compared to controls. Increased blood selenium was related to a significant decrease in the odds of AD after adjustment for risk factors. Blood selenium per 1 kg × 10⁻⁹/m³ × 10⁻⁴ increment was associated with 1.4 times lower risk of AD (OR = 0.71; 95% CI 0.58–0.87). A significant increase in the odds of AD associated with increased blood chromium was also seen in the adjusted model: the OR per 1 kg × 10⁻⁹/m³ × 10⁻³ chromium increment was 2.39 (95% CI 1.32–4.31). The association of urinary arsenic with the risk of AD was not significant. The data obtained provide evidence that selenium reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, while chromium increases it.

As the majority of experimental studies suggest cadmium being metalloestrogen, we examined cadmium/breast cancer (BC) association by histological and tumor receptor subtype in 509 invasive BC patients and 1170 controls. Urinary cadmium was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry, and categorized using tertiles of its distribution in the controls: 0.33 kg × 10⁻⁹/kg × 10⁻³ creatinine. Relative to the lowest category of urinary cadmium adjusted odds ratio (OR) of ductal BC was 1.18 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.89–1.58) in the intermediate and 1.53 (95% CI: 1.15–2.04) in the highest category. There was a significant association for hormone receptor-positive ductal BC: ORs per category increase were 1.34 (95% CI: 1.14–1.59) for estrogen receptor-positive (ER+), 1.33 (95% CI: 1.09–1.61) for progesterone receptor-positive (PR+) and 1.35 (95% CI: 1.11–1.65) for ER+/PR+ BC. We found a significant association between cadmium and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2−) ductal BC. The strongest association with cadmium was for ER+/PR+/HER2− ductal BC. The associations between cadmium and lobular BC with hormone receptor-positive and HER2− were positive but insignificant. There was no evidence that the associations with cadmium differed for cancers with different tumor histology (p-heterogeneity > 0.05). This study provides evidence that urinary cadmium is associated with the risk of hormone receptor-positive and HER2− breast cancer independent of tumor histology.

Human biomonitoring (HBM) data in Europe are often fragmented and collected in different EU countries and sampling periods. Exposure levels for children and adult women in Europe were evaluated over time. For the period 2000–2010, literature and aggregated data were collected in a harmonized way across studies. Between 2011–2012, biobanked samples from the DEMOCOPHES project were used. For 2014–2021, HBM data were generated within the HBM4EU Aligned Studies. Time patterns on internal exposure were evaluated visually and statistically using the 50th and 90th percentiles (P50/P90) for phthalates/DINCH and organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) in children (5–12 years), and cadmium, bisphenols and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in women (24–52 years). Restricted phthalate metabolites show decreasing patterns for children. Phthalate substitute, DINCH, shows a non-significant increasing pattern. For OPFRs, no trends were statistically significant. For women, BPA shows a clear decreasing pattern, while substitutes BPF and BPS show an increasing pattern coinciding with the BPA restrictions introduced. No clear patterns are observed for PAHs or cadmium. Although the causal relations were not studied as such, exposure levels to chemicals restricted at EU level visually decreased, while the levels for some of their substitutes increased. The results support policy efficacy monitoring and the policy-supportive role played by HBM.

Alcohol is a well-established risk factor for breast cancer, but pathways involved in alcohol-related breast carcinogenesis are not clearly defined. We examined the association between low-to-moderate alcohol intake and breast cancer subtypes by tumor hormone receptor status. A hospital-based case-control study was performed in 585 cases and 1,170 controls. Information on alcohol intake and other risk factors was collected via a questionnaire. Logistic regression was used for analyses. All statistical tests were two-sided. The odds ratio of breast cancer was 1.75 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.21–2.53) in women who consumed ≤5 drinks/week, and 3.13 (95% CI: 1.81–5.43) in women who consumed >5 drinks/week, both compared with non-drinkers for ≥10 years, after adjustment for age and other confounders. The association of alcohol intake with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer was stronger than with estrogen receptor-negative: the odds ratio per 1 category increase was 2.05 (95% CI: 1.49–2.82) and 1.29 (95% CI: 0.85–1.94) (P-heterogeneity = 0.07). There was no evidence of an interaction between alcohol intake and menopausal status (P = 0.19) in overall group; however, it was significant in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer (P = 0.04). Low-to-moderate alcohol intake is associated with the risk of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer with the strongest association in postmenopausal women. Since alcohol intake is a modifiable risk factor of breast cancer, every woman should be informed and advised to control alcohol use.