NEWGENERIS

Duration

2006-2011

Coordinator

University of Maasthicht (NL)

Funded by

European Union

NewGeneris is an Integrated Project conducted within the European Union's 6th Framework Programme, priority area Food Quality and Safety (www.newgeneris.org). Its objective is to investigate the role of prenatal and early-life exposure to genotoxic chemicals present in food and the environment in the development of childhood cancer and immune disorders.

During recent decades there has been an accelerating increase of the incidence of childhood cancers, especially leukemias. A world-wide increase is also observed in the prevalence among children of immune diseases, including asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis and atopic eczema/dermatitis.

There may be biological and etiological links between the onset of childhood cancer and immunological disorders. Among such possible links is exposure to genotoxic-carcinogens (i.e. carcinogenic chemicals capable of causing damage to the genetic material of cells) with associated immunotoxic properties, present in the environment, including food.

NewGeneris is examining the possible role of exposure to such chemicals during pregnancy in the induction of increased risk of cancer and immune disorders in childhood. The relevance, for such risks, of analogous exposures of the fathers at the time of conception, as well as of the children themselves during their very early lifetime, is also being investigated. Apart from a general analysis on mother’s nutrition, the following chemicals are examined: Acrylamide (formation during baking and frying) Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons PAHs (environmental contamination food chain formation during baking and frying) Heterocyclic amines (formation during baking and broiling) Nitrosamines (environmental nitrate contamination food chain and subsequent endogenous formation) Mycotoxin -Deoxynivalenol, aflatoxin (environmental contamination food chain) Ethanol DNA-reactive aldehydes (macronutrients) Dioxins/PCBs (environmental contamination food chain).

NewGeneris involves existing European mother-child birth cohorts and initiated also new cohorts/biobanks in different European regions (Spain, Greece, Norway, UK, Denmark) that generated extensive information on nutrition and other exposures during pregnancy and birth and collected mother’s and umbilical cord blood samples.

ISGlobal is participating in NewGeneris with part of the INMA cohort, particularly at the Hospital del Mar and in Sabadell. As part of this work approximately 250 pregnant mothers have been enrolled in the study and questionnaires of the mother and blood samples (mother, cord) have been collected and birth outcomes have been recorded. Also somatometrics and anogenital distance have been measured in the newborns. Samples have been processed at the UAB (Prof Ricard Marcos, Dr Susana Pastor). The Spanish part of NewGeneris will participate in the main analyses of the Euopean project, for example micronuclei, biomarkers such as DNA bulky adducts and haemoglobin adducts for acrylamide, genomewide analysis, measurement of Calux for dioxin exposures, evaluation of protocol on ethics on information of the participants. The group at ISGlobal has also a very active role in the development of dietary information. An analysis of anogenital distance together with the Greek RHEA cohort in relation to estimates of dioxin exposure (Calux) will be carried out. 

In fact, therefore CREAL members who participates in this project also works Silvia Agramunt, a resident from the Hospital del Mar and PhD student working with CREAL studies under the supervision of CREAL co-director, Manolis Kogevinas, and Prof. Carreras.