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Background: Recent advances in ancient DNA studies, especially in increasing isolated DNA yields and quality, have opened the possibility of analysis of ancient host microbiome. However, such pitfalls as spurious identification of pathogens based on fragmentary data or environmental contamination could lead to incorrect epidaemiological conclusions. Within the Mycobacterium genus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex members responsible for tuberculosis share up to ∼99% genomic sequence identity, while other more distantly related Mycobacteria other than M. tuberculosis can be causative agents for pulmonary diseases or soil dwellers. Therefore, reliable determination of species complex is crucial for interpretation of sequencing results., Results: Here we present a novel bioinformatical approach, used for screening of ancient tuberculosis in sequencing data, derived from 28 individuals (dated 4400-4000 and 3100-2900 BC) from central Poland. We demonstrate that cost-effective next-generation screening sequencing data (∼20M reads per sample) could yield enough information to provide statistically supported identification of probable ancient disease cases., Conclusions: Application of appropriate bioinformatic tools, including an unbiased selection of genomic alignment targets for species specificity, makes it possible to extract valid data from full-sample sequencing results (without subjective targeted enrichment procedures). This approach broadens the potential scope of palaeoepidaemiology both to older, suboptimally preserved samples and to pathogens with difficult intrageneric taxonomy., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press.)

The purpose of the project was to indication the environmental factors that may influence on the menarcheal age in girls of Central Poland. The study was conducted in Warsaw and Lodz between 2016 and 2017 among subjects of randomly selected high schools, schools for adults, and workplaces. The material included 752 subjects between the ages of 16.00 and 29.23 years (mean age was 20.99 years). The questionnaire form provided information on the place of residence, parents' educational level, living conditions, and the number of children in the family. All questions concerned the period of adolescence. Studied subjects also were asked about their participation in sports in and outside the school, the level of stress at school and at home, smoking habits, and their age at menarche. To find the relation between the age at menarche and the socioeconomic status and living condition, the Generalized Linear Model with link function logit analysis and t-test were used. The statistically significant difference in the age at menarche was found based on the place of residence during adolescence and father's educational level. The girls from larger cities, whose fathers have higher education seem to mature earliest.

Until recently, most studies report an increasing prevalence of allergy and asthma. The research suggests that the increase may have to do with changes in lifestyle and living conditions. This study seeks to determine the prevalence and changes in allergic diseases in relation to socioeconomic status (SES) 6 years apart. The research material consisted of data collected in two cross-sectional surveys conducted among university female students in 2009 and 2015 (respectively, 702 and 1305 subjects). The surveys evaluated the incidence of allergic conditions and socio-economic status. The occurrence of allergy was determined on the basis of answers to the questions whether the allergy and specific allergens were defined on the basis of medical work-up. The prevalence of allergic diseases increased from 14.0% to 22.3% over a 6-year period. In both cohorts, allergic diseases were more prevalent among females with high SES than with low SES. In 2009, significant differences were noted in relation to urbanization of the place of living and the number of siblings. In 2015, all socioeconomics factors significantly bore on the prevalence of allergy.

One of the most severe detrimental environmental factors acting during pregnancy is foetal smoke exposure. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of maternal, paternal and parental smoking during pregnancy on relative leg length in 7- to 10-year-old children. The research conducted in the years 2001-2002 included 978 term-born children, 348 boys and 630 girls, at the age of 7-10 years. Information concerning the birth weight of a child was obtained from the health records of the women. Information about the mother's and the father's smoking habits during pregnancy and about the mothers' education level was obtained from a questionnaire. The influence of parental smoking on relative leg length, controlled for age, sex, birth weight and the mother's education, as a proxy measure of socioeconomic status, and controlled for an interaction between sex and birth weight, was assessed by an analysis of covariance, where relative leg length was the dependent variable, smoking and sex were the independent variables, and birth weight as well as the mother's education were the covariates. Three separate analyses were run for the three models of smoking habits during pregnancy: the mother's smoking, the father's smoking and both parents' smoking. Only both parents' smoking showed a significant effect on relative leg length of offspring. It is probable that foetal hypoxia caused by carbon monoxide contained in smoke decelerated the growth of the long bones of foetuses., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

The objective of the present work is to identify the set of prenatal and familial factors that contribute to dental caries of first permanent molars in preschool and young schoolchildren, which will make it possible to determine a high-risk group that should be considered for special preventive measures. This study contributes to the evidence for the multifactorial nature of dental caries. Material was collected during a 2009-2010 study conducted in randomly selected schools and kindergartens in the city of Łódź (Poland). Only children with first permanent molars present were considered for the analysis, which limited the database to 1131 children. Dental examinations were accompanied by a questionnaire completed by the parents, covering items pertaining to prenatal and familial determinants. The present study shows that there are significant differences in the prevalence of caries in first molars between children of different ages (5-13 lat) and that no such differences exist between boys and girls. The prenatal and familial factors conducive to caries include maternal education level (OR=0.55), mode of delivery (OR=0.63) and birth order (OR=0.63). Mothers' smoking habit is also associated with increased caries prevalence in children. Caries prevention should already begin during the prenatal period primarily in respect of mothers with lower educational attainment who are pregnant with a second or subsequent child., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the month of birth influences the maturation rate of Polish females from two birth cohorts, namely 1982-1984 and 1992-1994. It was also verified whether socioeconomic status (SES) is capable of altering the above relationship., Methods: The research material consisted of data collected in two cross-sectional surveys. The first cohort involved 1,008 female secondary-school students, the second, 671 female university students. Information on subjects' date of birth, SES, and the age at menarche was obtained from a questionnaire. The subjects were divided into four groups, according to the month of birth: born in spring (III-V), born in summer (VI-VIII), born in autumn (IX-XI), and born in winter (XII-II). Next, the subjects were divided into two groups: born in summer months (VI-VIII) and born in the other months (IX-V)., Results: In the first cohort, subjects born in the summer reach menarche significantly earlier than subjects born in other seasons. The same tendency was noticeable in subjects born in the years 1992-1994; however, the differences were not statistically significant. In both cohorts, girls born in summer months had their first menstruation at a younger age than girls born in other months. The difference in age at menarche between season/months was also seen after dividing the data into uniform groups in terms of SES., Conclusion: The present data suggest that the season of birth influences sexual maturation rate in women., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The neonatal line is usually the first accentuated incremental line visible on the enamel. The prenatal environment significantly contributes to the width of the neonatal line, influencing the pace of reaching post-delivery homeostasis by the newborn's organism. Studies of the enamel of the earliest developing deciduous teeth can provide an insight into the prenatal development and the perinatal conditions of children of past human populations, thus being an additional source contributing to consideration of the influence of prenatal and perinatal factors modifying growth processes. The aim of this study was to examine whether the neonatal line, reflecting the conditions of the prenatal and perinatal environment, differed between the Neolithic, the mediaeval and the modern populations from the Kujawy region in north-central Poland. The material consisted of longitudinally ground sections of 57 human deciduous incisors obtained from children aged 1.0-7.5 years representing three archaeological series from Brześć Kujawski site. All teeth were sectioned in the labio-linqual plane using a diamond blade (Buechler IsoMet 1000). Final specimens were observed with the microscope Delta Optical Evolution 300 at 10× and 40× magnifications. For each tooth, linear measurements of the neonatal line width were performed on its labial surface at the three levels from the cemento-enamel junction. No significant difference was found in the mean neonatal line width depending on the tooth type and archaeological site, although the thickest neonatal line characterised children from the Neolithic series. In all analysed series, the neonatal line width was diversified depending on the child's age at death. The value of Spearman's rank correlation coefficient calculated for the correlation between the child's age at death and the neonatal line width was statistically significant. A clear increase in the width of the neonatal line was thus observed along with a decrease in the child's age at death., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Physiological disruptions resulting from an impoverished environment during the first years of life are of key importance for the health and biological status of individuals and populations. Studies of growth processes in archaeological populations point to the fact that the main causes of childhood mortality in the past are to be sought among extrinsic factors. Based on this assumption, one would expect random mortality of children, with the deceased individuals representing the entire subadult population. The purpose of this study is to explore whether differences in early childhood survival are reflected in differences in deciduous tooth enamel, which can provide an insight into the development of an individual during prenatal and perinatal ontogeny. Deciduous incisors were taken from 83 individuals aged 2.0-6.5 years from a medieval inhumation cemetery dated AD 1300-1600. Prenatal and postnatal enamel formation time, neonatal line width, and the number of accentuated lines were measured using an optical microscope. The significantly wider neonatal line and the higher frequency of accentuated lines in the enamel of the incisors of children who died at the age of 2-3 years suggest the occurrence of stronger or more frequent stress events in this group. These results indicate that in skeletal populations mortality was not exclusively determined by random external factors. Individuals predisposed by an unfavorable course of prenatal and perinatal growth were more likely to die in early childhood., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The neonatal line (NNL) is used to distinguish developmental events observed in enamel which occurred before and after birth. However, there are few studies reporting relationship between the characteristics of the NNL and factors affecting prenatal conditions. The aim of the study was to determine prenatal factors that may influence the NNL thickness in human deciduous teeth. The material consisted of longitudinal ground sections of 60 modern human deciduous incisors obtained from full-term healthy children with reported birth histories and prenatal factors. All teeth were sectioned in the labio-lingual plane using diamond blade (Buechler IsoMet 1000). Final specimens were observed using scanning electron microscopy at magnifications 320×. For each tooth, linear measurements of the NNL thickness were taken on its labial surface at the three levels from the cemento-enamel junction. The difference in the neonatal line thickness between tooth types and between males and females was statistically significant. A multiple regression analyses confirmed influence of two variables on the NNL thickness standardised on tooth type and the children's sex (z-score values). These variables are the taking of an antispasmodic medicine by the mother during pregnancy and the season of the child's birth. These two variables together explain nearly 17% of the variability of the NNL. Children of mothers taking a spasmolytic medicine during pregnancy were characterised by a thinner NNL compared with children whose mothers did not take such medication. Children born in summer and spring had a thinner NNL than children born in winter. These results indicate that the prenatal environment significantly contributes to the thickness of the NNL influencing the pace of reaching the post-delivery homeostasis by the newborn's organism., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To evaluate caries experience in primary molars as well as the differences in caries prevalence and caries lesion location on individual tooth surfaces between first and second primary molars in pre-school children., Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 307 children, aged 3 to 5 years, from randomly chosen kindergartens in Lodz, Poland. Caries experience was scored according to WHO recommendations. The caries intensity (dmft, dmfts) for first and second primary molars was calculated. In addition, the percentage of particular surfaces with caries was counted for each molar separately., Results: The mean dmft for primary molars was 1.84 (dmfts=2.47) and dmft>0 was seen in 53.09% of the study subjects. While in the entire examined population dmft and dmfts for first and second molars did not differ significantly, in 5-year-old children, the left mandibular first molar was associated with a higher caries intensity than the left mandibular second molar (dmfts=0.465 vs 0.344, Z=-1.98, p=0.04). However, in 5-year-olds, higher caries occurrence was seen for occlusal surfaces of the tooth 85 than 84 (33.62% vs 20.68%, χ2=4.09, p=0.03). The distal surface was more frequently affected in first molars than in second molars in children aged 4 (85 vs 84, χ2=17.1, p<0.001; 75 vs 74, χ2=11.5, p=0.007, 55 vs 54; χ2=4.6, p=0.03) and 5 years (54 vs 55, χ2=20.09; 64 vs 65, χ2=16.75; 74 vs 75, χ2=21.6; 84 vs 85, χ2=31.07; all comparisons p<0.001). In contrast, the mesial surfaces of mandibular second molars demonstrated more caries than the homologous surfaces of first molars, both in 4-year-olds (85 vs 84, χ2=6.15, p=0.01) and 5-year-olds (75 vs 74, χ2=3.9, p=0.04)., Conclusion: In 5-year-old children, caries of occlusal and mesial surfaces was more common in primary second molars. However, distal surfaces were affected more in first than second molars.

Objective: Development of human tooth enamel is a part of a foetus's development; its correctness is the outcome of genetic and maternal factors shaping its prenatal environment. Many authors reported that individuals born in different seasons experience different early developmental conditions during pregnancy. In this study, we investigated the effects of season of birth and selected maternal factors on enamel thickness of deciduous incisors., Design: Dental sample comprises 60 deciduous incisors. The parents who handed over their children's teeth for research fill in questionnaires containing questions about the course of pregnancy. All teeth were sectioned in the labio-linqual plane using diamond blade (Buechler IsoMet 1000). The final specimens were observed by way of scanning electron microscopy at magnifications 80× and 320×. The thickness of total enamel (TE), prenatally (PE) and postnatally (PSE) formed enamel was measured., Results: Children born in summer and in spring (whose first and second foetal life fall on autumn and winter) have the thinnest enamel. Season of birth, number of children in family, diseases and spasmolytic medicines using by mother during pregnancy explained almost 13% of the variability of TE. Regression analysis proved a significant influence of the season of birth and selected maternal factors on the PE thickness - these factors explained over 17% of its variability. Neither of analysed variables had influenced PSE., Conclusions: Our findings suggests that the thickness of enamel of deciduous incisors depends on the season of birth and some maternal factors. The differences were observed only in the prenatally formed enamel., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this study is to examine the prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity, using International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) criteria, in four cohorts of children and adolescents living in Poland in different economic eras: communist economy (1977/1978), crisis of the 1980s (1987/1988), political and economic transformation (1992/1994) and the free market economy (2002/2004). Analysis was conducted on a database including 10,934 records for children of the age 7-18 years. In Poland, in the last 26 years of economic and political transformations, the epidemic of obesity was not noticed but the growing incidence of children and adolescents with body mass deficit was observed (p<0.0001) (20.2% of girls in 2002/2004 vs. 11.0% in 1977/1978 and 12.1% of boys in 2002/2004 vs. 7.2% in 1977/1978). Lower parental education and a higher number of children in a family resulted in a higher prevalence of underweight (odds ratio [OR] fluctuated from 1.26 to 1.63). The social effects of the political transformation in Poland significantly affected families with low socio-economic status (SES), and especially more eco-sensitive boys. This result is opposite to the trends observed in Western countries and makes an important contribution to the current knowledge of the course of further changes in weight-to-height ratio at a global scale., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this study was to determine the dental caries rates in the skeletal human population who lived in north-central Poland in modern times (16th-18th century). The material consisted of 297 skeletons (4,783 permanent teeth) from the archeological site of K. Compared material was coming from two different sites located in the same region: early mediaeval Kolonia--39 skeletons and Swiety Duch (dating to the same historical period as K population)--417 skeletons. All three series are part of the osteological collection of the Department of Anthropology. For each skeletal sample, caries rates were calculated by individual (frequency index) and by tooth count (intensity index). Dental caries was scored also according to a procedure in which the initiation sites are recorded. The highest frequency of dental caries was observed in Swiety Duch (70%) and the lowest in the early mediaeval sample (almost 59%). The intensity of caries fluctuated from above 8% observed in Kolonia to 22% observed in the sample from Swiety Duch. However, in all three samples the caries initiation site was most often noticed on fissure and pits (type 1) the K population was characterised by a different caries pattern (chi2=17.88, p<0.05 when compared with that of Kolonia; chi2=218.73, p<0.01 when compared with that of Swiety Duch), which could be the effect of diet (high frequency of CEJ caries probably means starch-rich plant food diet), oral hygiene, fluoride level, economic status or genetic factors (resistance/sensitivity to cariogenic bacteria)., (Copyright (c) 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.)